A former Fred Meyer employee was arrested on burglary and theft charges after police say the Juneau man stole $32,000 in cash from the store’s safe.
On Friday, Ryan Christopher Otness, 34, was arrested on a charge of second-degree burglary —a class C felony —and first-degree theft —a class B felony — while leaving a residence in the 2500 block of Vista Drive, according to police.
At about 8:15 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 10, Fred Meyer staff reported the theft of $32,000 in cash from the store’s safe, according to police. Security footage showed a man enter the store through the employee entrance, walk to the safe, use a passcode to deactivate the security alarm for the area, open the safe, remove a large amount of cash from the safe, reactivate the alarm and leave.
Otness was identified as a person of interest in the theft, according to police. He was contacted by police on Vista Drive while getting into a vehicle registered to him.
At the time of the arrest, $5,580 in cash was located in a vehicle, according to police.
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