Former Walmart Cashier, Relatives Steal $5K In Merchandise: Cops

ROHNERT PARK, CA – Following a month-long investigation, a former cashier for Walmart in Rohnert Park was arrested along with two of her family members Wednesday on suspicion of stealing thousands of dollars worth of merchandise from the store, authorities with the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety said.

Management with the Walmart store at 4625 Redwood Drive informed police Dec. 21 that they began investigating the employee, 18-year-old Angel Vu of Rohnert Park, after becoming suspicious she was not ringing up items brought to her register, Rohnert Park DPS Sgt. Jeff Justice said in a news release.

Their suspicions prompted them to review video surveillance of Vu, who started working at the store in August.

According to Justice, upon watching November and December footage of Vu, management "realized Angel was passing merchandise by the register without ringing it up and would then load the items into bags as if they were purchased."

"They saw that the same subjects would bring their merchandise to Angel’s register and only pay a small amount for a few items, then exit the store with all of the merchandise including the items they did not pay for," Justice said.

Management told police that on Dec. 12, they saw some of the subjects Vu is accused of not charging for the items come to her line with merchandise. Management proceeded to stand by the exit door in order to make contact with the customers in question.

"They stopped the subjects and checked their receipt, and saw that most of the merchandise had not been paid for," Justice said.

That day, as management continued talking with the customers, Vu left the store and never returned, Justice said.

Walmart continued its investigation of Vu, allegedly determining "she provided these individuals with over $4,000 worth of merchandise that she did not charge them for," Justice said.

When Rohnert Park DPS was informed of the matter, detectives reviewed the surveillance footage and noticed the people to whom Vu was allegedly providing merchandise appeared to be members of her family, the sergeant said.

A $10,000 felony warrant for Vu's arrest on suspicion of grand theft and embezzlement was secured by the detectives Friday, Jan. 18.

On Wednesday, Jan. 23, detectives served a search warrant at her Rohnert Park residence.

Vu was taken into custody at that time.

Vu's mother and sister, identified by police as 41-year-old Diem Vu and 19-year-old Judy Vu, were interviewed by detectives, as were Vu's other adult and teen siblings.

"... Angel, Diem and Judy all admitted to conspiring together to commit the thefts from Walmart," Justice said.

"Angel would let them know the best time to bring the items through her line, and they would figure out what items they wanted to steal which included food, clothing, TVs, electronics, video games, toys and movies," Justice said.

According to the sergeant, Angel on Wednesday walked detectives through the home and pointed out stolen items they were still in possession of.

"Those items were seized and later returned to Walmart management, who identified it as their merchandise and determined it had a total value of over $5,700," Justice said.

Angel was booked into Sonoma County jail Wednesday on the arrest warrant, the sergeant said.

Diem and Judy were also arrested and booked into county jail. They are accused of conspiracy, burglary, grand theft, possession of stolen property, Justice said.

Patch submitted a media request for comment Wednesday to Walmart and received the following response from Tara Aston, senior manager of national media relations for Walmart:

"Acting with integrity is a cornerstone of our company. We take the protection of our assets seriously and will take action if they are misappropriated. The individual involved is no longer with the company and as this is a criminal matter, we will refer any additional questions to law enforcement."

Photo courtesy Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety