Ex-employee robs Ace Hardware store after being fired, authorities say

PHOENIX (Arizona’s Family/Gray News) - Investigators in Arizona say a former employee is accused of stealing from a hardware store weeks after he was fired.

Arizona’s Family reports 61-year-old Scott Joseph Pearson was arrested after stealing money from a Phoenix-area Ace Hardware store on Friday.

Pearson reportedly walked into the manager’s office, opened the safe with a code and stuffed $1,400 into a black bag before leaving. Authorities said surveillance video captured him taking the money out of the safe.

According to court documents, the store manager noticed Pearson sleeping at a nearby park the next day and called police.

Officers arrived and told Pearson there was a warrant out for his arrest, and he was detained, investigators said. The manager reportedly told police Pearson was let go from the store about three weeks before the robbery.

Court documents stated that Pearson denied being in the manager’s office and told officers he went into the store to get water.

However, officers said they searched Pearson and found nearly $600 in his pocket.

Pearson was booked and charged with one count of burglary.