Caraluzzi's employee arrested for stealing $33,000

By KARA O'CONNOR

Villager Staff Writer


WILTON -- A Bethel man has been arrested for stealing $33,000 from Caraluzzi's Market in Georgetown.

Stephan Nota, 18, of 10 Grove Place in Bethel, was charged with larceny in the first degree on Saturday, March 6 at Caraluzzi's Market, 920 Danbury Road, at 7:45 p.m., according to police.

Lt. Donald Wakeman said that police surveillance of Nota, an employee at Caraluzzi's, was conducted for several months as part of an ongoing embezzlement investigation at the Georgetown grocery store.

Police said Nota was observed several times voiding out cash transitions with a copy of a manager's badge for which he should not have had access. Police surveillance also revealed that Nota would turn money into the register and maintained an ongoing tally of his voids throughout the course of his shift. Police said Nota would then remove cash at the end of his shift.

According to Wakeman, Caraluzzi's checked its records and found that Nota had been stealing money from May 2009 through January of this year.

"After Caraluzzi's set up surveillance, they conducted further investigation," said Wakeman. "Once they went through months of their cashier journals, they found out that Nota had stolen a total of $33,000."

Nota was initially arrested in late January with two counts of larceny in the sixth degree, said police. Nota is scheduled to appear in Norwalk Superior Court on Monday, March 15.