Cop Charged With Stealing From Office Refrigerator
A Houston area cop nabbed in a sting operation will be in court today to face theft charges - stealing drinks from the office fridge.
Kevin Yang, an officer in Deer Park, Texas, was busted after complaints that lunches, drinks and 60 pounds of deer sausage had disappeared from the officers' shared fridge started piling on the desk of his boss, Deer Park Police Chief Greg Griggs, ABC News affiliate KTRK reported.
Griggs approved a sting operation, setting up a hidden camera above the fridge and filling it with bait food - Monster energy drinks and sandwiches - in order to nab the lunch leech.
According to police, the video, released to the public by the department, caught Yang in the act pulling one of the unopened Monster energy drinks, clearly marked with the initials of one of the department's detectives, out of the break room refrigerator on Nov. 19.
When confronted with the evidence, Yang told investigators he was cleaning the office fridge.
Yang was allegedly caught again on camera Nov. 22 taking a sandwich, again marked with a detective's initials, and then again on Nov. 26 and Nov. 27, each time pulling out a drink marked with initials not his own, police said.
"The same officer was taking the items each time," Griggs said. "Nobody else was taking it during that three week period."
In addition to the misdemeanor charge of theft, Yang was hit with a 30-day unpaid suspension that began on Tuesday and could cost him as much as $4,500 in lost wages. He will be able to return to work as an officer because the charge is below a class B offense.