MITCHELL – A Mitchell man faces a theft charge after police say he stole two days’ worth of deposits from Kentucky Fried Chicken.
On April 12, 2024, at 4:21 p.m., Mitchell Police Officer Steve Britten responded to Kentucky Fried Chicken on State Road 37 after a call from the manager reporting a theft. The theft was captured on video surveillance cameras. On April 6 and April 7, two deposits were missing. The video footage showed the manager on duty completing the end-of-day paperwork and taking the deposit out of the office. According to the manager, the policy is to take the deposits directly to the bank and deposit them. There are no cameras outside the restaurant, so what happened to the deposits is unclear.
The manager on duty told police he gave Tramas Ault, 37, of Mitchell, the deposit to take to the bank. He said Ault showed up at the end of the shift and told the on-duty manager he would take the deposit to the bank. One worker witnessed the manager handing Ault the deposit. She also said Ault had told her he had found the missing deposits from the day prior, and she asked Ault if he turned it in, and he said he had not.
Another employee stated Ault pulled him into a bathroom and told him to tell police that he saw the manager give the deposit to “someone named Sarah.” Ault said, “Everything would work out, and it would just be write-ups for everyone.”
When police spoke to Ault, he told them he “didn’t know what they were talking about.”
The deposit stolen on April 6 totaled $407.59, and the deposit for April 7 was $584.41.
The information was forwarded to the Lawrence County Prosecutor’s Office, and a warrant was issued for Ault’s arrest. Ault was arrested on that warrant on Wednesday, April 24 at 4:30 p.m.
