A Fairfax County police officer was allegedly caught taking items from two different Target stores without paying for them last month.
Scott Abram, a 23-year veteran of the Fairfax County Police Department who most recently worked as a school resource officer (SRO), was charged yesterday (Oct. 8) with misdemeanor shoplifting, his employer announced this morning.
According to the FCPD, its officers first responded to a Target in Burke (10301 New Guinea Road) at around 11 a.m. on Sept. 23 after the store reported that a customer had shoplifted merchandise the previous afternoon:
Loss prevention staff reported that a customer, later identified as [Master Police Officer] Scott Abram, 44, of Spotsylvania, concealed the barcode of one item using a less expensive item during a self-checkout transaction on September 22, at approximately 1:00 p.m. Abram then left the store with both items after paying for only one. Abram was in uniform and on duty at the time of the incident.
The same uniformed police officer had also allegedly shoplifted items in a similar manner later on Sept. 22 at the Target in Springfield Town Center (6600 Springfield Mall), loss prevention staff told the FCPD. That incident occurred at approximately 5 p.m., when the officer was no longer on duty.
“Our Internal Affairs Bureau and Major Crimes Bureau were notified immediately, and Abram was placed on administrative leave while criminal and administrative investigations continued,” the FCPD said in a press release.
Though the case doesn’t appear to have been entered into online court records yet, the FCPD says Abram has been charged with two counts of shoplifting, which is classified in Virginia as a class 1 misdemeanor if the goods taken from a business are valued at less than $1,000. The potential punishment for a conviction is up to 12 months in jail and/or a maximum fine of $2,500.
Abram was released from custody on two criminal summonses, police said.
He will retire on Oct. 16 instead of facing termination, the FCPD told FFXnow.
“I am disheartened that a police officer has betrayed the public trust with these intentional acts of criminal misconduct,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said in a statement. “It is unacceptable, and I will not tolerate it.”
