A North Liberty woman was charged Oct. 8 after allegedly stealing from her employer.

According to an Iowa City police complaint, Jennifer Hauser, 35, was charged after corporate loss-prevention staff from O’Reilly Auto Parts — her employer — allegedly discovered she had stolen more than $11,000 from the company between September 2010 and July.

The complaint charged that Hauser stole the money through finding and creating extra items in the store’s inventory — items she then returned to one of three credit cards she owned, using the item number as though she was a customer returning an item.  The complaint said Hauser was able to balance the inventory while stealing using this method.

Hauser was confronted by loss prevention Aug. 28, and allegedly admitted to the theft, according to the complaint. She also allegedly admitted the theft to police detectives in an interview.

The complaint said a review of Hauser’s credit-card accounts showed the amount stolen to be $11,013.71.

Hauser is charged with first-degree theft, a Class-C felony.

— by Matt Starns