Woman faces felony charges of running ‘short change’ scams at Target stores

A Long Beach woman was arraigned Monday in Orange County Superior Court on allegations that she stole hundreds of dollars from Target stores in Orange County in a “short change” scheme.

Ashlie Jane Pentard, 29, was charged with eight felony counts of second-degree burglary. She is accused of stealing $800 while checking out at Target locations in Irvine and Costa Mesa between May and December, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

If convicted, Pentard could face a maximum seven years and eight months in state prison, according to the district attorney’s office.

Police think Pentard made small cash purchases at the stores, eight times paying with a $100 bill. As the cashier made change, authorities allege, Pentard would say she had changed her mind and asked for the $100 bill to be returned. After the cashier returned the bill, authorities say, Pentard would keep it while switching to a smaller bill while the cashier wasn’t looking and then claiming she had received the wrong bill.

Police said she would make a scene to confuse the cashier, who would then give her another $100 bill.

Investigators believe Pentard worked a similar scam about 150 times since 2013 at Target stores in California, Arizona and Utah, stealing more than $10,000.

Police said Irvine detectives watched Pentard use the scam at a Costa Mesa Target store on Thursday and took her into custody.

She is being held in Orange County Jail with bail set at $75,000 and must prove the money is from a legitimate source before posting bond.

She is scheduled for a pretrial hearing Dec. 15.