A Polk Avenue Elementary School fifth-grade teacher was apprehended after Lakeland Police alleged she engaged in a scheme involving returns and unpaid merchandise at the Target on Harden Boulevard.
According to an arrest affidavit, officers responded to the store at 9:36 a.m. on August 31 after being notified of a suspect “making selections and concealing items.”
According to the affidavit, the defendant is 42-year-old Ashley Erin Drumb of Winter Haven, a Lake Wales Charter School teacher.
According to police, Drumb arrived in the parking lot about 9:25 a.m. and went to the Target Online Pickup counter to place an order for a wreath and a pencil sharpener. The affidavit states:
“At 0934 hours, the defendant exited the vehicle and entered the business with a blue tote bag. The defendant proceeded onto the sales floor and selected merchandise from the sales floor and placing the unpaid items into the blue tote bag.”
She then walked past all check-out lines and went to customer service, where she “completed a return of the pencil sharpener she had picked up at the online order, as well as returned (1) wreath, (10) 7 qt clear bins, and (1) black bin that was selected from the sales floor and unpaid for.”
According to the affidavit, Drumb got $86.67 in reimbursements but “did not render payment for the items that were selected from the sales floor and are currently in the shopping cart.” Investigators say she left the business at about 10:37 a.m. with 66 unpaid products totaling $958.16 before taxes.
Post-Miranda, Drumb reportedly told police she felt she had paid for all of the things and blamed any oversight on the rain, claiming she wanted to pay for them all. Officers claimed this contradicted surveillance and witness statements.
The affidavit also stated that Drumb was “a repeat suspect of prior theft,” citing Lakeland Police Case #24-13468. Despite the notation, court records show she had no past theft convictions.
Drumb was arrested and charged with grand theft between $750 and $5,000 and scheme to defraud, both third-degree felonies.
When contacted for comment, the Lake Wales Charter School system stated, “The individual is no longer with Lake Wales Charter Schools.” They further mentioned that LWCS does not respond to personal problems.