By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A lawyer representing the Chehalis woman accused of stealing more than $50,000 from a concrete business where she was the bookkeeper told a judge the alleged victim and the defendant were in a relationship and the allegations came up after they broke up.
Angela D. Sawyer
Angela D. Sawyer, 39, was arrested and jailed on Wednesday after the Chehalis Police Department finished an investigation that began this summer, following a report from Jerry Nixon, the owner of Apex Mobile Mix.
Sawyer was charged in Lewis County Superior Court on Thursday with first-degree theft and first-degree identity theft.
Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher requested high bail, telling the judge Sawyer was suspected of wrongdoing involving a number of debit cards from other individuals.
Defense attorney for the day Joely O’Rourke countered that the allegation involved just one card belonging to one man and requested unsecured bail in the amount of $10,000. Meagher apologized and said he must have misread the filing, drafted by another prosecutor.
Judge Richard Brosey agreed with the unsecured amount.
Sawyer, who now works with the Area Agency on Aging, resides in Chehalis with her teenage son, according to O’Rourke.
According to charging documents, Nixon contacted police on July 27 after recently signing up to receive Internet bank statements and saw several transactions he did not make or authorize, including some for cash. He told the officer he learned from his bank they were made on a debit card he did not know existed.
Detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said the owner of the business with locations in Napavine and Chehalis was asked to gather up financial records.
Charging documents go on to give the following account:
Nixon told police he found out the debit card had been mailed out and he learned Sawyer had the card. He said she admitted to having the card and returned it to him.
Late last month, Nixon brought the various documents to the police department and showed receipts he said had nothing to do with company purchases totaling $51,772.89.
“Also in the papers Nixon brought were questionable checks written by Sawyer,” prosecutors wrote. “These checks appeared to be paying for Sawyer’s personal bills and needs.”
The total comes to more than $72,800, missing from between July 2012 and the end of this past July.
Nixon told a police detective that Sawyer and he were in a relationship, but she was never a co-signer on the account.
He said Sawyer told him she got into drugs and was using the money to support her habit.
Sawyer has no criminal history, according to prosecutors.
Because she earns only $1,300 per month, she qualified for a court appointed attorney. Her arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
I’m sorry but this whole thing is bullshit!!! I have known Angie for years and she is one of the most honest and straight forward people I know. It pisses me off how the paper and stories like this get so blown up and way away from the truth. Anybody ever stop to think that this is somebody’s life and how it could ruin there name when nothing was done to even begin with. These are all accusations that are false. In this case it’s innocent until proven she’s innocent and u will see that she is a great person who would never do that to somebody she loved or anybody for that matter! ! Seriously people!!!
Mandy, everything you have said is hearsay. How do we know you not connected to him, a new lover or you hate her. Your argument is nothing but gossip at this point.
As the old saying goes, “fools and their money are soon parted”.
Or the other old saying “trust but verify”. Or another old saying “don’t mix business and pleasure (or personal)”.
I worked for a firm where the assistant to the CEO embezzled. Fortunately she was caught before it got to be a real big number. Turns out the bank statements for several month’s were sitting in one of the partner’s desk unopened.
No matter the personal relationship you have to have oversight of your finances – it’s not really fair to give someone total control and then be surprised when they steal.
In this case a simple 5 minute review of the owner’s bank account each month would have detected the problem early. He shouldn’t have been afraid of upsetting her but, if he was, he could have reviewed the account online in privacy.
Embezzlement usually starts the same way whether it’s this bookkeeper or Bernie Madoff. Most times the embezzler considers themselves an honest person. They start by taking a little in time of need with the intention of paying it back. Then they have another time of need and take a little more. Then it just snowballs or becomes an addiction.
I’ve never been a victim in life, simply because I have never given anyone the opportunity to victimize me.
“He said Sawyer told him she got into drugs ” So it’s not his fault for the drugs, but hers? And the drugs haven’t affected his judgment?
I see your point… but you dont have all the details of this particular case, so you shouldnt be so quick to judge! I know the victm personally and I will tell you he is truley a victim in this matter. He is extremely responsible and cautious and a hell of a good friend. Think of things in this sense for a moment…. how would you feel if your wife of 10yrs was doing your bookkeeping for you … would it ever cross your mind after being married that long without issue, that she would embezel your money? They say “girlfriend” in this article so casually. What they didnt tell you is its was his long time girlfriend of 10+ yrs so he was betrayed on a fairly high level here. I just dont think people should jump to conclusions so quickly with so little information. And why is no one concerned with the apparent fault of the bank…. if she wasnt a co signer….. not authorized to pull cash… how was she authorized for the debit ? Why was she able to transfer and withdrawl with the business account without a signature or a authorization from the account holder? (no one points the finger there.)so why not ask this… WHO WAS HELPING HER THATS EMPLOYED BY THE BANK? Or maybe thats no big deal to the people of this county…. maybe its your bank … but who cares right?! Because victims all deserve it for not being perfect and not suspecting everyone even those close to them! So in turn a hard working self employed business man gets betrayed for being a hard working man and providing for his girlfriend? And you basically say he had it coming…. you should be ashamed for saying that about a well respected member of yourvown community!
I like how she went from embezzling from her boyfriends business to support her drug habit to working with vulnerable adults and seniors at area agency on aging.
I agree with everything Bill S. says, and also if you’re a business owner, you need to know your vendors. Some embezzlers set up phony vendor companies and write big checks to themselves for items you never receive, or items that are marked up. They also add phantom employees or get lines of credit at different banks based on your company, so you need to regularly check your credit history. Lots of dishonest employees out there.
All of these financial frauds are enabled because the “victims” don’t use simple controls to safeguard their money and assets.
First rule when you own a business is to have the financial statements sent to you. A five minute review of disbursements each month will save you from embezzlement.
There were several cases like this in Lewis County last year and it’s hard for me to feel sorry for the “victims” as you are stupid if you give complete control of you finances to another person and don’t review your accounts.
You are really asking for it if you put some cake on the table, leave the house, and ask someone not to eat it. I almost think they should let the woman go free but I hate thieves.