Two women in Pennsylvania have been arrested on charges of stealing nearly $3,500 in roast beef and other items from the Arby’s where they worked.
Officials have filed felony theft charges against Shaniyah Alyia West, 21, and Stephanie Davis, 63, accusing the pair of stealing more than $2,800 in roast beef and more than 140 drinks over the course of their shifts.
The investigation began last July, when the owner of the franchise location contacted police about discrepancies in the store’s roast beef log sheets. While she initially thought it was due to measurement problems or waste, the owner eventually found that the two were allegedly slicing the beef and hiding it in a non-working oven before it was placed in the trash.
They would then allegedly retrieve the meat from the trash later. This practice went on for months, officials say. One manager told police he had watched the two workers slice off a large amount of beef, which was thrown out that night. West, he said, seemed eager to take out the trash that night—and when he went to investigate after the bags were taken out, he noticed the beef was not in them.
Surveillance video also allegedly showed the pair had taken 143 drinks, 16 other food items, and 49 “other” things.
The unusual case comes as more retailers have cited theft (or “shrink” to use the industry term) as an increasing challenge. Shrink losses exceeded $100 billion in 2022, according to the National Retail Federation.
Shoplifting is often cited as the principal reason for those losses, but internal theft makes up 29% of shrink, according to the NRF.
“Employees have more access to merchandise and monies; more control over security measures and processes; and opportunities not available to outsiders,” the NRF wrote in its 2023 Retail Security Survey. “An employee who decides to steal or collude with outsiders to steal often does so at a higher loss per incident than external thieves… It’s no small matter: The average dollar loss reported for an internal theft was $2,180 per investigation, which falls in line with 2021 and 2020 levels.”