Waterbury police have arrested the former manager of a local gas station who is accused of embezzling almost $58,000 from her employer.
Police first arrested Lelik Feliz, 44, in April on a larceny charge after the owner of the Valero gas station on Wolcott Street in Waterbury noticed $200 missing, police said.
Feliz admitted to taking the money, but claimed it was a loan for her son’s tuition and she planned to pay it back, police said.
She also told police that she had been having a secret relationship with the gas station owner and that he would give her cash.
When it came time for Feliz to appear in court on the larceny charge, she never showed up and was discovered in Cleveland, Ohio.
Meanwhile, the store owner was looking into his business finances and learned that $200 was just a small dent in actual amount of missing money, according to police.
Between 2012 and 2013, $100 to $300 had been taken almost daily. The owner found more than 200 incidents of theft, except for when Feliz was on vacation, according to police.
The store owner told police that he had trusted Feliz and she’d been a good employee.
When police spoke with Feliz, she told investigators she called the relationship with the store owner of in 2011, when she got married, and he’d reduced her work hours.
Police said she offered to return the money, but the store owner did not think she would be able to.
Feliz was arraigned on Wednesday and bond was set at $250,000, police said.
