Former Oak Brook Park District employees charged with theft and trespassing
Surveillance footage of a former Oak Brook Park District employee stealing change from a vending machine ultimately led to the discovery of nearly $30,000 missing from the district's fundraising arm, police said Thursday.
Former 22-year park district employee Mary Tansey is free on $1,000 bail and faces misdemeanor theft charges for allegedly stealing nearly $30,000 from the Oak Brook Park District Foundation.
Clint Lauderdale, of Evansville, Indiana, the man accused of stealing from the vending machines, also faces theft charges and an additional trespassing charge. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Oak Brook Sgt. Ben Kadolph said police were investigating the thefts from the vending machine in January when they discovered Lauderdale, who was fired from the district last August, had been using Tansey's access card to get in the building. Tansey resigned from the district during the investigation.
Kadolph said park officials then began looking into “aspects of the operation Tansey had her hands in.”
Through the investigation, foundation officials discovered Tansey made unauthorized personal purchases, including a set of new tires for her vehicle and restaurant meals, and made cash withdrawals totaling $29,269.70 between April 2014 and Feb. 3, 2016.
Tansey, 37, of Clarendon Hills, turned herself in to police earlier this week on a $1,000 arrest warrant and was released. She is next due in court on May 6.
A warrant also has been issued for Lauderdale, who police said was at one time in a relationship with Tansey.
Kadolph said Lauderdale, 45, used Tansey's access card to enter the park district facility 13 times between September 2015 and January 2016. In total, Kadolph said, Lauderdale is accused of stealing about $100 from the vending machine.
Foundation officials said the funds stolen from their accounts were insured and immediately replaced by the foundation's bank. Prosecutors will be seeking restitution from Tansey to the bank as part of the case being charged as a misdemeanor.