CENTER TWP — A department store employee is accused of stealing more than $1,600 in cash from the business at the Clearview Mall.

The defendant, Abbey N. Thompson, 23, of Worth Township, allegedly took the money between May 11 and July 7 when she worked at J.C. Penney, authorities said.

State police charged Thompson with a first-degree misdemeanor count of theft.

J.C. Penney officials notified police after they found cash shortages, police said. The money appeared to go missing from the store's cash room after Thompon's shift.

The store installed a hidden camera in the room on June 10, police said.

On July 1, a review of the security footage showed the suspect “removing cash from the bundles,” according to charging documents, “and placing (the) cash into her shirt.”

The store's asset protection manager confronted Thompson, who allegedly admitted to taking money, on July 7. An internal investigation pegged the loss at $1,638.

She later told Trooper Nicholas Dahlstrom, the investigating officer, that she began taking the money “after her bank account had been hacked,” police said.

During the police interview, she said that she was not making enough money at work to pay her bills.

“Thompson related that she became desperate for money,” documents said, “which is why she stole the cash from the store.”

Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 3 at the office of District Judge Lewis Stoughton in Chicora.

Online court records did not list an attorney for Thompson.