The mailroom
A teacher was caught going through condo mail, cops say. Then one box caught her eye
Miami Herald
By David Goodhue
09 May 2018
Christi Gardner MCSO
A Monroe County teacher was arrested on a theft charge Tuesday after
detectives say security camera footage from a condominium shows her
stealing a resident's beauty supplies that were just delivered to the
complex's mail room.
A woman is
filmed on a security camera taking a package of beauty supplies from
the mail room of the Summer Seas Condominium on Plantation Key on March
29, 2018 MCSO
Christi Gardner, 41, was arrested on a petty theft warrant signed by
Monroe County Judge Sharon Hamilton on Tuesday. She was released later
in the day on a bond of $2,500. Gardner could not be reached for
comment.
According to Sheriff's Office Deputy Nicholas Thaler's arrest report,
security camera footage at Summer Seas Condominiums at mile marker 88.5
on Plantation Key shows a woman police say is Gardner walk into the
mail room toward packages that were delivered just moments earlier at
4:30 p.m. March 29.
Footage shows her examine the labeling on the packages before one, a
box containing ULTA beauty supplies, grabs her attention. She steps
away from the box when a condo resident comes in to check his mail.
When the man left, Gardner returned to the mail room, grabbed the ULTA box and quickly left, Thaler wrote in his report.
According to the arrest affidavit, Gardner lives at an apartment complex at mile marker 79.9, not at Summer Seas.
The buyer of the ULTA products said she paid $110 for the order and had
just received a confirmation that the package had been delivered one
minute before Gardner was filmed leaving the building with the
merchandise.
According to Thaler's report, Gardner admitted to a Monroe Sheriff's
Office detective on May 3 that she took the package and that she was
sorry she did.
The Monroe School District released as statement late Wednesday
afternoon acknowledging Gardner is a teacher at Stanley Switlik
Elementary School.
"The District was recently made aware of the involvement of one of our
employees in an incident which resulted in their arrest by local law
enforcement," spokeswoman Lynsey Saunders, communications and community
relations coordinator wrote in an email. "Criminal charges are pending
and the District is looking into the matter to determine the most
appropriate response."
According to Gardner's Linkedin account, she has taught at Switlik
since August. She was a teacher for 14 years in Brevard County before
coming to the Keys, according to the Linkedin account, which also lists
her as a Mary Kay cosmetics "beauty consultant."
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