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An afternoon job interview at a McDonald's in New Holland has led to charges against an East Earl Township woman for allegedly stealing a set of keys from the store manager.
Kelly M. Sjursen, 21, of Granite Drive, East Earl, was charged with theft of property lost, mislaid or delivered by mistake for taking the keys during a May job interview and attempting to have a duplicate set made at the Wal-Mart in Ephrata Borough, police said.
New Holland police Officer Troy Deshong said it was unclear if Sjursen had planned to steal the keys when she came to the fast-food restaurant to fill out an application.
"I think the situation presented itself, and (Sjursen) just responded," Deshong said.
According to police, Sjursen and her boyfriend came to the store on May 6 to fill out job applications.
Deshong said the on-duty manager immediately realized after Sjursen and her boyfriend left the store that her set of work keys was missing.
The manager called Sjursen, who had put her phone number on the application, to ask if she had taken the keys, police said. Her boyfriend answered the phone and indicated that she had taken the keys and would return them immediately.
"They said they would return in 10 minutes, and 10 minutes turned into 60 minutes," Deshong said. "And then eventually (Sjursen) did return the keys."
Deshong said he suspected that because of the elapsed time between the phone call and the return to McDonald's, Sjursen had taken the keys to a store to make a copy.Deshong went to the Wal-Mart and presented a photo lineup to an employee who identified Sjursen and indicated that she had been at the store to make a copy of a key.
Sjursen was charged with the theft Monday.
The theft of property lost, mislaid or delivered by mistake charge stems from an individual that has to make a reasonable effort to return missing property in a timely manner, Deshong said.
E-mail: myoder@lnpnews.com
