A former state trooper was arrested Friday on police accusations that he stole $2,000 worth of merchandise from two Home Depot stores.
Investigators said John Robert Tamewitz, 59, of Penn Township removed stickers from online orders he picked up in-store, put the stickers on other merchandise and took the items without paying, according to court papers.
Tamewitz is charged with three felonies: retail theft, theft by deception and receiving stolen property. He is free on nonmonetary bond.
An Aug. 31 theft at the Hempfield Home Depot was reported to state police the following day by loss prevention. In that instance, Tamewitz placed an order online and arrived at the store around 11:45 a.m. to pick it up, investigators said.
Troopers laid out a timeline in court papers that, they said, showed Tamewitz remove a yellow sticker from his online order and use it, and other paperwork, to walk out of the store with other items for which he didn’t pay. He left behind the merchandise from the online order, valued at nearly $700, and was refunded 10 days later, according to court papers.
“Tamewitz would … surreptitiously remove the Home Depot online order identifying sticker and place it in a inconspicuous location within the store,” Trooper Zachary Wolford wrote in a complaint. “Tamewitz would then select additional merchandise held for sale at Home Depot, affix his online order documents/sticker on the merchandise to give Home Depot the false impression that the items were part of an already-paid-for online order … and leave the store with unpaid for, stolen merchandise.”
The Hempfield loss prevention employee told investigators Tamewitz was suspected in similar incidents at the Wilkins store. Troopers said $855 worth of items were taken in April and $500 in merchandise was taken in June. In both instances, the online orders were returned for a refund, according to court papers.
An attorney for Tamewitz could not be reached Monday. A message left with Pennsylvania State Police for details about his employment was not returned. A preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 14.