GRETNA, La. — A Gretna credit union employee has been arrested after authorities allege she stole $187,000 from a vault at her workplace before fleeing the state, according to reporting by NOLA.com.
Alexa Braud, 34, of Gretna, worked as a teller manager at RiverLand Federal Credit Union, Gretna Police Deputy Chief Jason DiMarco said. Police said Braud arrived at the office around 7:37 a.m. on Feb. 4 — earlier than her normal start time — and surveillance video shows a woman identified as Braud entering the vault and placing cash into a bag.
Authorities said she also took money from her teller drawer before leaving the office. Employees who arrived later that morning discovered missing funds and contacted police, prompting officials to identify Braud as a suspect and issue an alert for her red Toyota Corolla.
According to the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, authorities stopped Braud’s vehicle around 2:40 p.m. the same day at the intersection of Florida Highway 285 and Highway 90 near Mossy Head, Florida, more than 250 miles from Gretna. Deputies said they found about $150,000 in cash inside a small cooler in her car, NOLA.com reported.
Braud was taken into custody pending extradition to Louisiana and was booked Thursday into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center on one count of theft valued at more than $25,000. No bond had been set as of the report.