TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — An employee at a Jimmy John's in Tallahassee is facing felony charges after investigators discovered he was getting paid 25 times more than he should have but never notified the company.
Taylor Whiddon, 25, has been arrested for grand theft more than $20,000 but less than $100,000.
According to court documents, Tallahassee Police were called to the Jimmy John's on West Gaines Street on March 1 for a delayed theft. When they arrived, the complainant told officers that an employee at the business had stolen more than $60,000 over a period of eight months.
The complainant explained that he is the owner of the company that operates all Jimmy John's businesses in Tallahassee.
He told officers that beginning in August 2018, the company began noticing a series of payroll losses. Each month, the company seemed to be short between $5,000 and $7,000. In October, the company began an audit to figure out where the shortage was happening.
That same day, the company owner said that he was notified that there was yet another discrepancy on the day's payroll.
Through an investigation, the company found that Whiddon's paycheck for March 1 was for a gross total of $6,404. Upon further inspection, the company saw that Whiddon's hourly rate was supposed to be $10 an hour instead of the $550 an hour he was collecting.
Police say the company was able to determine that Whiddon had received a gross pay of $68,869 since being employed at Jimmy John's, more than 25 times greater than the $2,751 he was supposed to receive.
When asked, the company owner told officers that the hourly rate error was likely an error with their payroll system and did not believe Whiddon accessed the payroll program to change his hourly rate.
That same day the company owner filed the report with officers, court documents say Whiddon came in for his shift at 10:30 a.m.
Police say the company owner quickly confronted Whiddon about being overpaid and Whiddon acknowledge that he had been receiving additional funds but never notified anyone. When asked if he'd be able to repay any of it, Whiddon stated that he couldn't because he had already spent the money.
When asked about the $6,404 paycheck he received that day, Whiddon replied that he had already spent that as well.
Police say criminal charges were then filed and Whiddon was arrested for grand theft.
Officers later allowed Whiddon to call his mother. During the call, documents say he told her that he had spent the money on car payments, rent, guitars and amps. In reply, his mother responded that she paid his car note.
When his mother asked why he didn’t say anything, officers say Whiddon replied that he was "stupid."
Whiddon has since been released from jail.
