Employe of Mansfield Restaurant Caught Ripping Off Business: Police

MANSFIELD, CT — An employee of a restaurant in Mansfield is accused of sneaking into the point of sale system at the business after hours and stealing money multiple times over, state police said.

At 9:28 p.m. Tuesday, state and UConn police encountered the employee leaving the restaurant after hours just after receiving a complaint about an "active burglary" taking place. The name of the restaurant was redacted from an arrest report and not mentioned in an incident report. The location of the incident was listed only as Storrs Road.

The owner of the restaurant told state police that it seemed an employee had been stealing cash from the business for about three weeks, according to an incident report. The owner noticed "multiple abnormal logins" to the register system from the same employee, according to an incident report.

The owner told state police the same employee had entered the business after hours on two consecutive nights when no one was supposed to be there, according to an incident report.

On Tuesday night, the owner went to the restaurant after hours and saw the employee drive into the parking lot, according to an incident report. The owner called authorities after seeing the employee enter the building without permission and she was then caught exiting the premises with cash from the register by state troopers and UConn officers, according to an incident report.

The woman, later identified as 28-year-old Coventry resident Jennifer Spencer, was arrested at the scene and charged with third-degree burglary, fifth-degree larceny, and risk of injury to a child, state police said. Third-degree burglary is a felony.

The risk charge was from Spencer leaving her child unattended in her car when entering the business, state police said.

A family member was contacted to take custody of the child, according to an incident report.

Spencer was later released from custody on a $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Rockville Superior Court on Aug. 2, state police said.