Allyson N. Reed goes before a judge in Lewis County Superior Court for a bail hearing.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – When a police officer asked the 33-year-old Chehalis office manager if she had any idea where several thousand dollars of missing funds from her workplace had gone, she said she did not.
When the officer then explained that her boss had showed him copies of checks written by her and cashed by her totaling more than $70,000 over and above her normal paychecks, the mother of two looked at the ground and started to cry.
She said she’d gotten behind on her bills and didn’t realize she’d taken that much money.
So say charging documents in the case of Allyson N. Reed, also known as Allyson N. Fuller.
Reed was charged on Monday in Lewis County Superior Court with first-degree theft.
Chehalis police say an officer responded last week to Northwest Heating and Cooling on Southwest Chehalis Avenue regarding the discovery of money missing from the business. Police department spokesperson Linda Bailey said it appeared it occurred over the past five months.
According to charging documents, the company’s owner Wesley Floyd had looked at the accounts after another employee told him he had seen an order for some gift cards and thought it was odd.
Floyd noticed that several checks were issued to Reed, his officer manager, that he didn’t recall writing, some even while he was out of the state, according to documents.
Reed earned about $16 per hour, getting paid once a week, accounting for about 20 of the checks, the documents state, but Floyd found another 147 checks totaling about $72,000, according to the documents.
The Centralia woman was arrested on Friday and booked into the Lewis County Jail.
Charging documents state that before she was taken away, but after she arranged for childcare, she said she wanted to talk with her boss.
Reed told Floyd her parents would pay him back $60,000 to not press charges, the documents state. He said he wouldn’t take their money.
Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher told a judge on Monday afternoon the charges included two aggravating factors: that it was a major economic offense and that she used her position of trust, confidence or fiduciary responsibility to carry out the alleged crime.
The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine.
Meagher in requesting bail noted Reed had 10 convictions in 2006 for false identity and controlled substance violations. Temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke argued the offenses were 10 years old and that Reed has resided in Centralia her entire life.
Judge R.W. Buzzard set bail at $10,000.
He was told Reed plans to hire a lawyer. Her arraignment is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Oh, allison….. hope things work out for you!
Looks like the new car and the fingernails are gone…
SAD…
Ding ding ding ding. Grayhawk wins!
maybe do a background check before you hire someone. also, I can’t believe that anyone has $70,000 worth of bills.
Bullshit. The employer has proof that that behemoth stole the money. Blaming it on the employer for not checking his accounts is like blaming Jasper for being beaten to death.
You have to be out of your mind.
Just want to make one comment just remember people are innocent until proven guilty facts may not be what they seem at first just cause it’s written in an article. so just try be careful who we are quick to judge. And I agree with Bill if that much money is really coming up missing it is definitely part of the responsibility of the employer to keep track of their finances yes it is good to trust your employees however it is also good to keep track of your business on your own.
This is not a case of getting behind on your bills, drugs are involved , this person has an addiction problem.
Sad thing is she will get less time than a guy who has a beer after working an honest day & driving home.
Ms. Reed/Fuller/Whatever was paid once a week over 20 weeks, meaning she wrote an average of 7+ checks totaling $3,200 to herself each week? That’s not “getting behind in my bills,” that’s a lack of character, an issue with Ms. Reed/Fuller/Whatever ten years ago and I suspect it didn’t suddenly occur when she was 23.
Kudos to Mr. Floyd for not agreeing to take $60K from her parents, who probably have had to write a lot of checks to keep her out of trouble. I hope the attorney she hires is smart enough to insist on being paid up front…in cash.
Trust but verify. If you own a small business you should personally review your checking account at least weekly. Easily done online. Same thing with any credit accounts. That will prevent you from being victimized like this.
There are a few of these cases in Lewis County each year and they could easily be prevented by simple financial controls.
I pray to God that whoever this woman is, she comes to terms with Christ. I hope she understands that karma is real, the Devil is real, and to sum it up, God is real. My prayers are with her!