PORTAGE, Mich. — The Kalamazoo County Prosecutor has dropped retail fraud charges against County Commissioner Tami Rey.
Rey, 39, had been accused of "skip-scanning" items at a Walmart self-checkout in Portage on Friday, Dec. 22, 2023. Law enforcement said she did not scan and tried to walk out of the store with a heated blanket valued at $76.
The case was dismissed without prejudice.
Rey denied any wrongdoing, saying that it was simply an accident when scanning the items they were purchasing. She wrote in a Facebook post that the items being purchased were for needy families and a food pantry. She went on to explain the situation by saying in part:
"We identified a couple of families and secured a last-minute small grant to purchase gifts. One family needed a bed for a youth member, and I found a nice futon available for in-store pickup at the Walmart on Shaver Road in Portage.
With hesitation, another individual and I went to purchase the futon and other items on the family’s list. Unfortunately, there were no open lanes at the checkout, so we had to use the self-checkout. It was challenging to scan all the items and keep them separate for accounting purposes. We had a total of three different transactions at one self-checkout, as I was also picking up a few food items for a shelter, which needed separate payment."
Rey is a Democrat who serves as the commissioner for District 1 on the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners.
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