While many states consider theft of more than $500 worth of goods to be a felony, police said the woman accused in the incident has not been charged with a crime.
Officials at an Ohio grocery store called the police on one of their employees, who they claim had eaten $9,200 worth of deli meat over her eight years of working there.
The unnamed woman was alleged to have eaten several slices of cold cuts per day from the deli at Giant Eagle Supermarket in Lawrence Township.
A loss prevention manager at the store had reportedly received a tip that the employee had been between three and five slices of the ham every day, while occasionally eating salami.
The manager estimated about $9,200 worth of ham was consumed, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
While many states consider theft of more than $500 worth of goods to be a felony, police said the woman accused in the incident has not been charged with a crime.
“While our office did take a report of the issue as requested by the store, no determination of charges has been made,” Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis Campbell said.
The prosecutor’s office would decide to file charges against the woman, but Campbell said: “I do feel confident that once all of the facts are relayed to the prosecutor, felony charges are unlikely.”
The Sheriff’s Office was called to investigate the matter and took a report as requested by Giant Eagle, Campbell said.
“When called to investigate a matter, our office holds an independent duty to report on behalf of the complainant and sometimes make immediate arrests,” Campbell said. “We did NOT make an arrest and there have been no formal filing of charges.”
Giant Eagle appeared to come under fire on social media after news of the deli meat incident spread.
“Whoever the loss prevention expert is who decided to actually TRY to prosecute an 8 year employee for eating ham scraps needs to find a new job,” one woman wrote on Facebook.
“They literally give out more than that in a day in SAMPLES,” another person fumed.
"At Giant Eagle, having respect for others is of the utmost importance," a spokesperson for the supermarket said in a statement to InsideEdition.com. "While it is necessary that we take all potential incidents of theft seriously, after careful review of the circumstances surrounding the incident in our Bolivar, Ohio, supermarket, we are recommending to local authorities that formal charges not be pursued."
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