A photo of a Carnegie Mellon University police officer welcomes visitors to the department’s website, but Frazier police are accused of switching tags to lower prices on items purchased at the Walmart store in the Pittsburgh Mills complex. was accused by.
Ashley Dawn Polka, 31, of the 100 block of School Avenue, Harmar, was charged Sept. 18 with misdemeanor retail theft. She was arraigned on a subpoena and she was ordered to appear for a preliminary hearing before District Judge David Sosowitzka on Oct. 30, according to her court records.
Mr. Polka is not listed on the CMU Police Department personnel list on the website.
CMU police officials and the university’s media relations department did not respond to phone and email messages seeking comment on Polka’s employment status.
The university’s publication, The Piper, announced the adoption of polka in its March 10, 2021 issue.
In an August 2021 Facebook post, she and two other CMU employees were congratulated for completing their bicycle training.
Prior to joining CMU, Polka worked as a part-time police officer for several local police departments, according to published reports.
Polka resigned from his part-time position with Armstrong County’s Manor Township in February 2021 to take a full-time position at CMU, according to the Leader Times.
The department reported in October 2019 that Kiski Township had accepted Polka’s resignation as a part-time police officer.
In November 2020, Aspinwall posted on Facebook that Polka had been hired as a part-time director.
Police said in a criminal complaint that Polka was charged after being restrained by loss-prevention employees at the store on Sept. 11, when he exchanged tags to reduce the price of items he purchased. This is the sixth time he has been seen since April.
She is accused of stealing items valued at $189.84. The store is seeking $105.84 in damages, according to her complaint.
According to the complaint, Walmart provided police with security video showing Polka removing the tag from a 50 cent tumbler and attaching it to a more expensive item she had purchased.
Police said the thefts began April 28 when she stole $6.34 worth of merchandise using 50 cent stickers.
According to the complaint, she used the same technique to sell $32.03 worth of merchandise on May 3, $43.56 worth of merchandise on June 2, $8.97 on July 2, $19.94 on September 8, and on September 11. He allegedly stole $79.
Tony La Russa is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Tony can be reached via email at tlarussa@triblive.com or on his Twitter. .