Brazen breakroom thief caught on camera in Orem dental office
Nov 5, 2024, 11:52 AM
OREM — A dental office is hoping the public can help police identify a thief who they say helped herself to employee belongings in the room they thought was safest at the office, right during the middle of the workday.
The Smile Studio dental hygienist Emily Goodrich said she was the first to notice her wallet missing from her purse after work on Oct. 29.
Wallet is missing
“I texted all the girls here at work and said, ‘Hey, this is strange, but my wallet’s missing out of my purse,'” she said.
Others replied their wallets, keys, and other items had also disappeared.
With a pit in her stomach, Goodrich would then see the dental studio and office building’s surveillance video from that day, showing what appeared to be a wig-wearing woman wandering around the building.
The videos show the alleged thief checking out other offices, even going into one. The woman bumps into a young patient outside The Smile Studio at one point, before heading down the hallway toward the back of the dental office.
Surveillance shows the alleged thief walking into the building behind other people (The Smile Studio)
The camera inside The Smile Studio’s back breakroom shows the woman walking into the dark room, quickly dismantling the door chime, and turning on the light.
Usually, Goodrich said, people frequently walk in and out of that room. But in the six minutes the woman spent in that spot, she had it to herself.
“Nobody was in there, it was the perfect window,” Goodrich said. “We were really busy at that point.”
Video shows the woman checking pockets of jackets hanging on chairs in the breakroom, before going into the adjacent breakroom bathroom where employee lockers — that Goodrich said didn’t have locks — were located.
“She had rummaged through to find what she wanted,” Goodrich said.
Surveillance shows the alleged breakroom thief rummaging through employee belongings (The Smile Studio)
‘It’s frightening’
She said the woman stole wallets with IDs, cash and cards, plus a checkbook, keys, garage door openers, sunglasses, and an expensive bag.
Calling her bank immediately, Goodrich said they told her that, “She had already been all the way from here in Orem to the South Jordan branch of my credit union and withdrawn my checking. All of it.”
Goodrich said she took pictures of the surveillance video the bank showed her, in which the same woman appearing to wear a wig with a hat allegedly uses Goodrich’s driver’s license to withdraw $1,100 from her account.
“It’s frightening because I think — what else can she do with my ID?” Goodrich said.
She said the bank restored the money to her account, and everyone cancelled their cards so that the woman could not use them. One employee had to replace a $900 key fob, Goodrich said.
Goodrich says the bank showed her video of the woman using Goodrich’s ID to withdraw from Goodrich’s checking account (Emily Goodrich)
They now fear the woman could potentially show up to the home addresses on ID cards and use the stolen keys and garage door opener to gain entry.
The Smile Studio added locker locks and a keypad on the breakroom door.
Both Orem and South Jordan police departments told KSL TV they are investigating the case.
Goodrich is really hoping they can find this apparent breakroom bandit.
“If she’s found, at least we know that she’s not out there with our IDs,” Goodrich said. “But, I just really don’t want her doing this somewhere else.”
