Police: Teen employee stole $980K at Kroger

They say he bought cars, clothes, guns, shoes with his haul.

A Gwinnett County teenager was arrested after authorities said he managed to steal nearly $1 mil- lion from the grocery store where he worked.

Tre Brown, 19, was taken into custody Jan. 14 after scamming the Kroger on Steve Reynolds Boulevard out of more than $980,000 over a two-week period, Gwinnett police spokesman Cpl. Collin Flynn said.

According to police, Brown created more than 40 returns for nonexistent items in December and January. Those returns, which ranged in price from $75 to more than $87,000, were then placed on several credit cards, investigators said.

Police said Brown used the stolen money to buy two cars, clothes, guns and new shoes. Prior to his arrest, the teen reportedly totaled a Chevrolet Camaro that he bought, Flynn said.

The investigation began after corporate employees from Kroger noticed the fraudulent transactions and contacted Gwinnett police.

Police said Brown, who they believe worked at the fuel center, stole the money while an employee tasked with flagging fraudulent transactions was on vaca- tion for two weeks.

A “large sum of money” was returned to the grocery chain following the teen’s arrest, but it wasn’t imme- diately clear Thursday how much was recovered.

Brown was charged with one count of felony theft by taking and released from the Gwinnett Jail the same day on $11,200 bond, online records show.