A woman who found a wallet and turned it in is accused of stealing the money from the wallet before she turned it in.

Tracey Renee Mauer, 51, Linton, was arrested by Officer Davis Aerne of the Linton Police Department on Wednesday, May 11.

On Monday, the LPD took a report from a woman who said she had lost her wallet but it was turned in at Walmart and after she picked it up, she realized the money that had been in the wallet was now missing.

Officer Aerne was dispatched and talked to an asset protection associate at the Walmart store in Linton. Together they reviewed video footage from the store which showed the woman paid for her groceries at a self-checkout and showed that when she opened the wallet there were numerous bills inside. She removed two bills to make the purchase and then she put the change back in the wallet. Video footage from another camera showed her exiting the store and walking toward her vehicle then loading her groceries into her vehicle.

Video also showed another individual, later identified as Tracey Mauer, sitting in a vehicle in a nearby parking spot. Footage showed Mauer getting out of her vehicle, going to pick up the wallet which was lying in a crosswalk area and then returning to her vehicle. The video shows Mauer stayed in her vehicle for approximately three minutes before she walked into the store.

According to Officer Aerne’s report, Mauer handed the wallet to a cashier who then gave it to someone at the service desk. Video from various cameras trace the wallet through the entire process of it being turned in until its return to the rightful owner. At one point, when someone looked through the wallet to determine who owned it, there was no money in the wallet.

Officer Aerne then went to Walmart early Wednesday to meet Mauer who works in the maintenance department at the Walmart store. Mauer allegedly said she was sitting in her vehicle watching TicTok while waiting to go into the store. She said when she saw the wallet, she got out and picked it up but said she did not see who dropped it. Mauer allegedly said she did not go through the wallet and she did not take any money from the wallet. Mauer said she had not been in trouble for anything and she did not take anything. She said she didn't know who whose wallet it was and she returned the wallet in its entirety to a cashier.

Mauer was told she was going to be arrested for theft and she was taken into custody and transported to the Greene County Jail where she was booked in at 7:28 AM. Her bond was set at $1000 surety with 10% cash allowed. She has since posted $100 and been released.

Mauer is scheduled to appear in Greene Superior Court for her initial hearing on June 6 on a charge of theft, a Class A misdemeanor.