An eighth-grade science teacher at Little Falls Community Middle School has been charged in Morrison County District Court with a felony for allegedly stealing property from Reed's Sporting Goods and then selling the items on eBay.
David Earl Gregoire, 42, Little Falls, was charged with the felony that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years if imprisonment and/or a $100,000.
According to the criminal complaint:
- The owners of Reed's Sporting Goods, which has stores in Walker and Onamia and formerly in Baxter, contacted law enforcement in late May after finding their store items had been showing up on eBay and they thought it may be an employee.
- The eBay account belonged to Gregoire, who is a long term employee at Reed's Sporting Goods, and one of his duties was to gather items from the store's warehouse and transfer them to the retail stores. The store owners told authorities that Gregoire had complete and unfettered access to the warehouse and its merchandise.
- The Little Falls Police Department executed a search warrant at Gregoire's residence and located hundreds of merchandise that appeared to be stolen from Reed's Sporting Good stores. Many of the items still had Reed's pricing stickers on them with the name Reed's printed on the sticker. Shipping boxes that contained merchandise were also found that had been shipped to Reed's Sporting Good stores. The items found included clothing, sleeping bags, shotguns, rifles and scopes and had a value of more than $50,000.
- During a taped statement June 6, Gregoire admitted to taking merchandise without the knowledge or permission of Reed's Sporting Goods. He also admitted to selling the merchandise on eBay and keeping the money.
- According to the eBay fraud protection unit, it appeared that Gregoire was selling the sporting good merchandise on eBay for several years. The owners estimate that approximately $140,000 in merchandise was stolen over the last five years.
Little Falls School Superintendent Curt Tryggestad said Friday that the district is cooperating with law enforcement authorities and letting the legal process play out since Gregoire has the right to due process. Tryggestad said the school district would be in a different situation if school was in session and Gregoire was in contact with the students daily.
"This is not the case and we'll just have to wait and see what happens and then take the appropriate action when the legal process is complete," Tryggestad said.
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