York Town News
Former antique shop employee indicted
By Melissa Wood
YORK - After a lengthy investigation by the York Police Department, a grand jury has indicted Elizabeth Piatt, 41, for allegedly taking about $13,000 in cash and checks from her former employer, The York Antiques Gallery.
Piatt, a former resident of York who now resides in Concord, N.H., is charged with a Class B felony of unauthorized taking. If convicted, she could face between five and 10 years in prison and $20,000 fine.
The antique store first learned of the theft in December of 2005 when it received a call from its bank that the store's account was in arrears.
Piatt allegedly stole the money from the store's bank deposit over a period of four to five months in 2005.
"Several deposits weren't made, and she was in charge of those deposits," said Detective Steven Spofford, who conducted the investigation.
Spofford said that the indictment comes a year and half after the theft was first reported because the York Police Department had to gather enough evidence for probable cause to bring charges against Piatt, who did not confess to the alleged crime.
The investigation included sending items to a forensic laboratory for a handwriting analysis to prove that certain items were in Piatt's handwriting.
"There are only a few labs in this country that do that," said Spofford, who explained that the analysis took a while because it would have been bumped by the lab in favor of other cases, such as homicides.
Spofford said similar cases of employee theft come in a lot to the department, but are hard to prove without a confession. An indictment is not an indication of guilt. Rather, it means a grand jury has determined there is sufficient evidence to warrant a trial.
"A lot of businesses are pretty free over who's in charge of the money," said Spofford. "It's nice to see it at least get to this point."
Piatt is scheduled to be arraigned in York County Superior Court in Alfred on May 15.
