CMU police officer accused of switching price tags to steal from Walmart in Frazer

A Carnegie Mellon University police officer whose photograph once welcomed visitors to the department’s website has been accused by Frazer police of switching tags to lower the price of merchandise she bought at the Walmart store in the Pittsburgh Mills complex.

Ashley Dawn Polka, 31, of the 100 block of School Avenue in Harmar was charged Sept. 18 with a misdemeanor count of retail theft. She was charged by summons and ordered to appear for a preliminary hearing Oct. 30 before District Judge David Sosovicka, according to court records.

Polka is no longer listed on the website’s roster of CMU police department staff, and her photo was removed from its main page.

Peter Kerwin, CMU’s director of media relations, said in an email that the university does not comment on personnel matters but said Polka “has been on an extended leave from the department.”

The university’s publication, “The Piper,” announced Polka’s hiring in its March 10, 2021, edition.

In an August 2021 posting on Facebook, she and two other CMU officers were congratulated for completing bicycle training.

Before joining CMU, Polka worked as a part-time officer for several local police departments, according to published reports.

Polka resigned as a part-time officer for Manor Township in Armstrong County in February 2021 to take the full-time job at CMU, according to the Leader-Times.

The Trib reported in October 2019 that Kiski Township accepted Polka’s resignation from her job as a part-time police officer.

In November 2020, Aspinwall posted on Facebook that Polka had been hired as a part-time officer.

Police wrote in a criminal complaint that Polka was charged after being detained by loss prevention employees at the store on Sept. 11, which was the sixth time since April that she was seen switching tags to lower the price of items she bought.

She is accused of stealing items valued at $189.84. The store is seeking $105.84 in restitution, the complaint said.

Walmart provided police with security video that showed Polka removing the tags from tumblers that cost 50 cents and placing them on more expensive items that she bought, the complaint said.

Police said the series of thefts began April 28 when she stole $6.34 worth of merchandise by using the 50-cent stickers.

She used the same method to steal $32.03 in merchandise on May 3, $43.56 of items on June 2, $8.97 on July 2, $19.94 on Sept. 8 and $79 on Sept. 11, according to the complaint.