Woman arrested in $10,000 ‘short change’ scam in stores, police say

A Long Beach woman is suspected of stealing more than $10,000 from large retail stores by using a “short change” scam, said Irvine police, who arrested the woman Thursday.

Ashlie Pentard, 29, is suspected of running the scam by making small cash purchases at the stores. Then, police said, “When the cashier provided change, Pentard would quickly switch the large bills with smaller bills and insist the store had provided her with short change.”

Investigators allege Pentard did this about 150 times since 2013 at Target stores in California, Arizona and Utah, stealing about $100 in each transaction.

Some of the Target stores Pentard hit were in Irvine, police said.

Irvine detectives identified Pentard as the suspect, police said, and after watching her allegedly use the scam at a Costa Mesa Target store Thursday they took her into custody on suspicion of commercial burglary.

Police said Target helped in the investigation by providing detailed documentation of the crime spree at its stores.