The treasurer for a group that receives donations for the Uintah and Daggett County Children’s Justice Center was arrested Thursday on accusations she stole around $145,000 from her employer over the past decade.
Michelle Coon, 41, told police in an interview that she started off just taking small amounts of money, but became addicted to buying stuff, “kind of like a drug user would be,” according to her probable cause statement.
Her alleged purchases include fast food, shoes, clothing and phones.
The money came from the Friends of Uintah and Daggett County Children’s Justice Center’s account, court documents state. The group receives donations for the justice center, which provides services for children during child abuse investigations.
A member of the group contacted police after she noticed “some suspicious charges” on the organization’s account. She looked through all of the account’s statements since 2012 and says she saw multiple unauthorized charges and withdrawals.
Some of those came from a company credit card issued to Coon. Police also found copies of checks made out to Coon, according to court documents.
Coon was booked into jail on suspicion of a second-degree felony count of theft over $5,000 and later released after posting $10,000 bail.
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