CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — A Clarion Borough Meter Enforcement Officer is facing theft charges after allegedly stealing parking meter money.
According to online court documents, the Clarion Borough Police Department filed criminal charges against 51-year-old Janice I. Gabler, of Brookville.
According to a criminal complaint, on January 19, Officer William Peck IV received information that Janice Gabler, a Clarion Borough Meter Enforcement Officer, had cashed a large amount of change at Walmart within the past week. Officer Peck met with Walmart Loss Prevention and obtained records of Gabler’s recent transactions. He was provided with six transactions from December 27, 2016 through January 23, 2017, in the amount of $959.72.
The complaint states that as part of his investigation, on Sunday, January 29, Officer Peck collected all the money on Main Street for the meters and counted it. Then on Monday, January 30, Gabler and another meter enforcement officer collected the money from all of the borough parking meters, and the money was taken to a local bank. Officer Peck then went to the local bank and discovered the Main Street parking meter money was short by $245.93.
At 4:45 p.m. on January 30, Gabler returned to the Clarion Borough Police Department at the end of her shift. Officer Peck approached her about the money coming up short, and she denied any involvement. When asked for consent to search her car, Gabler denied consent, the complaint indicates.
As the conversation between Officer Peck and Gabler continued, Gabler asked Officer Peck to follow her to her car. She allegedly got into her car and removed a meter bag containing change. She allegedly said that the bag must have been misplaced, and she was too scared to bring the bag in, the complaint continues.
The conversation between Officer Peck and Gabler continued, and she admitted to taking a bank bag of borough meter money in November of 2016 containing $245.00 in change. Gabler asked Officer Peck to go with her back out to her car, and she removed another meter bag containing money. In the process, Officer Peck observed yet another bag underneath the passenger’s seat. A search of the vehicle was then made. The third bag was seized, as well as Gabler’s purse that contained a large amount of change, according to the complaint.
Following the search, Gabler provided a written statement allegedly admitting to a third transaction in January in which she took meter money on collection day and cashed it in at Walmart. She also indicated that she made a transaction at Walmart on this date in the amount of $155.41. She also said that the money she cashed in today was hers, the complaint states.
The estimated theft at this time is approximately $1,450.65, the complaint continues.
Following the investigation, Gabler was arraigned at 8:29 p.m. on January 30 in Magisterial District Judge Duane L. Quinn’s office on the following charges:
– Theft By Unlawful Taking-Movable Property, Misdemeanor 1
– Receiving Stolen Property, Misdemeanor 1
Unable to post $4,000.00 monetary bail, she was lodged in the Clarion County Jail.
She was released on January 31 after $400.00 security bail was posted.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. on February 14 with Judge Quinn presiding.
