STOUGHTON A former employee at BJ's Wholesale Club at 901 Technology Center Drive is accused of stealing boxes filled with prime cut meat worth more than $87,000 and selling them to a middleman in Avon.
Police said Lee Orlander, 40, of 70 Juniper Road, Holbrook, has been issued a summons to be arraigned Oct. 1 in Stoughton District Court on charges of embezzlement, larceny over $250 and conspiracy to commit embezzlement.
The suspected middleman, Ethan S. Lord, 30, of 137 Richmond St., New Bedford, was arraigned Aug. 27 on charges of receiving stolen property over $250 and conspiracy to receive stolen property.
Judge Emogene Johnson Smith continued Lord's case to Oct. 27 for a pretrial hearing.
Police said BJ's Wholesale noticed that prime-cut meat began to disappear about eight months ago. Suspecting theft, the store set up a hidden video camera.
Police said Orlander, the company's merchandising manager, was caught on videotape carrying boxes of meat through a back door and loading them into a car.
Store management and loss prevention officers confronted Orlander with the evidence and called police.
Stoughton Detective James O'Connor said Orlander immediately began to cooperate with authorities.
Police said Orlander confessed to stealing 245 cases of filet mignon, pork and beef rib eye steaks, and selling them to Lord, an employee at Portal Metals Inc. of 10 Tracy Drive in Avon.
Police and store officials said the total wholesale value of stolen meat was $87,088. Each box weighed 70 to 80 pounds and was worth about $500.
Orlander told police he received $50 to $100 for each box of meat sold to Lord.
He believes (Lord) was selling it in the Fall River and New Bedford area, O'Connor said.
Orlander has been fired by BJ's Wholesale, police said.
O'Connor said BJ's Wholesale and Stoughton and Avon police launched a joint investigation. Orlander agreed to do a routine sale at Portal Metals on Aug. 27 as police watched nearby.
When the transaction was made, police arrested Lord, O'Connor said.
Stoughton Executive Officer Thomas Murphy praised the joint operation and said consumers will benefit since theft, left unchecked, drives up consumer prices.
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