By Carl Fish
LAKELAND – A Polk Avenue Elementary School 5th grade teacher was arrested after Lakeland Police allege she engaged in a scheme involving returns and unpaid merchandise at the Target on Harden Boulevard.
According to an arrest affidavit, police responded to the store at 9:36 a.m. on August 31 after being alerted to a suspect “making selections and concealing items.”
The affidavit identifies the defendant as 42-year-old Ashley Erin Drumb of Winter Haven, a teacher in the Lake Wales Charter School system.
Police say surveillance showed Drumb arriving in the parking lot around 9:25 a.m. and going to the Target Online Pickup counter for an order that included a wreath and 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 lanes 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) 7qt clear bin, and (1) black bin that was selected from the sales floor and unpaid for.”
The affidavit states Drumb received $86.67 in refunds but “did not render payment for the items that were selected from the sales floor currently in the shopping cart.” Investigators said she exited the store around 10:37 a.m. with 66 unpaid items valued at $958.16 before taxes.
Post-Miranda, Drumb reportedly told police she believed she had paid for all of the items and blamed the rain for any oversight, stating she intended to pay for everything. Officers said this conflicted with surveillance and witness accounts.
The affidavit also noted Drumb was “a repeat suspect of prior theft,” referencing Lakeland Police Case #24-13468. Despite that notation, court records currently indicate she has no prior 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 advised that “the individual is no longer with Lake Wales Charter Schools.” They also stated that LWCS does not comment on personal matters.
