Carson City restaurant employee allegedly steals cash drawer money, exchanges for pre-paid cards
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Thu, 03/11/2021 - 11:14am
UPDATE: A 25-year-old man was arrested Wednesday for suspicion of felony grand larceny after allegedly stealing around $3,000 in cash from a restaurant where he worked as a night shift employee, according to a Carson City Sheriff's Office booking report.
Canyon Bowers, a Carson City resident, was taken into custody at 7:13 a.m. after contacting law enforcement, admitting that he took the money.
Bowers told officers investigating the incident that he received a phone call from someone he thought was in the corporate office who asked him to sort the restaurant's cash box money, place the cash into bundles, and then to go and purchase pre-paid green dot cards, sending the card information back to them.
According to the booking report, a deputy was called to the McDonald's on Winnie Lane at 6:18 a.m. for a report of a grand larceny. Officers made contact with the manager who advised the night shift worker, Bowers, stole money from the cash drawer after a maintenance worker arrived at the restaurant at 3 a.m. for his shift. The maintenance worker told the investigating CCSO deputy that he saw Bowers in the parking lot when he arrived for work.
Bowers told the maintenance worker he had forgot something in the restaurant and then followed him inside, where he walked to the area where the cash boxes were in the safe room, according to the arrest report. The maintenance worker said he thought Bowers had forgot to close the drawers and count the money before he left from his shift and that's why he returned.
The deputy investigating the incident was shown video surveillance in which Bowers was observed walking into the safe room and taking money out of the cash draw boxes, placing the empty cash boxes into the safe and then leaving the business. Bowers was also observed walking around and appeared to be on the phone, the arrest report states.
The store manager advised they would provide CCSO with a copy of the surveillance video. The officer collected evidence and cleared the scene and was headed to an address, believed to be where Bowers lived.
Dispatch then advised that Bowers called 911 to report a fraud and told dispatchers that he stole the money out of the safe and used the money to purchase pre-paid cards, according to the arrest report.
Deputies responded to a grocery store in the 500 block of William Street to meet with Bowers, who was wearing the same clothing as was observed on the video surveillance from McDonald's.
The officer asked him what happened. Bowers told the deputy he received a phone call from what he thought was someone in the corporate office. He said the person identified himself and said two other employees were going to be arrested in the morning.
Bowers told the officer the male on the phone told him what do with with the money. Bowers said he drove to Reno and purchased some pre-paid cards with some of the money and provided the man with the code information for the cards. He explained that he placed the receipts for those purchases in the safe at McDonald's.
Bowers was placed under arrest. The deputy report states that the two walked back inside and retrieved a bag with money inside of it and also his two cell phones. Bowers stated that the person who called him should still be on the phone. The deputy picked up his phone and spoke to a subject who would not identify himself and eventually hung up on the officer. Bowers was read his Miranda warning in which he agreed to speak.
Bowers explained that he received a call at the store at around 11 p.m. from a man who identified himself as a corporate employee. He told the officer that the man told him to count all the money in the store. He said the man wanted him to make 3, $350 bundles of money. Bowers told the officer that he left McDonald's and drove to a Walgreens in Reno and purchased cards and then sent the man information about the cards.
Bowers stated he then came back to McDonald's and put the receipts for the cards in the safe. He said that he later came back to the store because he was talking to the man again, this time on his cell phone, who told him to go and get the rest of the money from the restaurant and to get more cards for him and then send him the card information, according to the arrest report.
Bowers told officers that he got the money at around 3:15 a.m. and left the restaurant. He advised that he had been trying to find green dot cards in Carson City and ultimately found them at the grocery store on William Street. He said it was then when he was at the grocery store that he thought it was odd and so he called law enforcement.
Bowers told the officer that there was some money left in the center console of his vehicle and also receipts on the passenger seat of the vehicle.
Bowers consented to a search for his cell phone and car. A deputy retrieved money from his center console and receipts off the passenger seat, which were collected into evidence. Bail: $25,000.
New information was added to this story at 12:10 p.m. and is in italics.
In other arrests:
— A 41-year-old Carson City man, George Steven Hudson, was booked into jail Wednesday for a felony warrant alleging uttering a forged instrument. The warrant was issued Feb. 26, 2021 out of Carson City Justice Court. Bail: $5,000.
— A 46-year-old Carson City man was booked for a gross misdemeanor warrant alleging tampering with a motor vehicle. The warrant was issued Feb. 24, 2021. Bail: $2,500.
— A 21-year-old woman, Allison Lennon, was booked Tuesday for a felony fugitive from justice warrant out of Taylor County, Texas. Bail: $25,000.
— A 29-year-old Carson City woman was arrested Tuesday for a warrant alleging violation of bail conditions. The warrant was issued March 3, 2021. Bail: $3,000.
— A 37-year-old South Lake Tahoe woman was booked Monday for a misdemeanor warrant issued Jan. 13, 2021 out of Carson City Justice Court. Bail: $1,000.
— A 28-year-old Spring Creek, Nev., man was arrested Monday, 9:46 a.m. in the 800 block of Retail Road for suspicion of misdemeanor petit larceny and obstructing an officer. Bail: $764.
— A 53-year-old woman was arrested early Tuesday in the 3000 block of Highway 50 East for a misdemeanor warrant, violation of suspended sentence, issued in August 2019. Bail: $1,000.
— A 41-year-old Fallon man was booked Wednesday into Carson City jail for a misdemeanor violation of suspended sentence warrant. Bail: $1,000.
All information for the crime log (unless otherwise noted) comes from the arrest reports supplied by the Carson City Sheriff's Office, and is considered by law to be public information. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The policy of Carson Now is to name anyone who is arrested for a felony offense.
