Not adding up: Two charged in Casey's theft case

The Casey’s General Store in Carrington recently contacted law enforcement after noticing that their bottom line wasn’t adding up.

Not long after, it was determined that one of their own employees may be responsible.

According to court documents, Casey’s employee Marissa Johns and her boyfriend, Steven Krueger, were caught on video stealing more than $1,500 in gift cards between June 1 and June 27 of this year.

Court documents allege that Johns was generating gift cards as cash sales without putting cash in the register, creating a cash shortage in the registers that triggered an investigation.

“The video review determined that during 4 instances, Steven Krueger would walk up to Marissa Johns’ register with a gift card and purchase a gift card using a white card in the keypad. The cash drawer would then open with no cash going into the register for the transaction, but a receipt was produced,” say court documents.

“The cash drawer only opens for cash purchases and not credit or debit card transactions. Therefore, Krueger would insert a card into the card reader during the transactions, but Johns would ring the transaction up as a cash purchase.”

Both Johns and Krueger have since been charged with theft between $1,000 and $10,000, which is a Class C felony.

Both were also given unsecured appearance bonds in the amount of $1,000, meaning they don’t need to pay anything upfront, but would be required to pay the $1,000 if they fail to show up for court proceedings.

Their next court appearance is a preliminary hearing and/or arraignment scheduled for August 8 at 11 a.m. in the Foster County Courthouse.

At a preliminary hearing the judge will determine if there’s enough probable cause for the felony charges against Krueger and Johns to stand. If he determines there is, they will then enter their pleas of guilty or not guilty.

If the judge decides there is no probable cause, the felony charge will be dismissed.

The maximum penalty for a Class C felony in the state of North Dakota is five years’ imprisonment, a fine of five thousand dollars, or both.

Johns and Krueger are considered innocent unless proven guilty.