Employee admits to cheating GameStop out of thousands; Gets arrested

Posted by Carisa Kissane on Sunday, May 19, 2024

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) – The Evansville Police Department say officers arrested a GameStop employee on Wednesday afternoon.

Officers say they were called to GameStop located at South Red Bank Road after a GameStop district manager called and reported an employee for theft and fraud.

According to authorities, Ticen Houchin, 19, of Evansville, started working at GameStop in late October and started creating loss on the store four days later.

Reports show when the officers arrived, the manager explained how Houchin created false trade-ins for items like iPhone and video game controllers and put the money on gift cards which he took home. The total amount of fraudulent trade-ins is $ 4,758.70. Additionally, officers say the items stolen from the store amounted to $3,770, adding up to a total of $8,528.70.

The manager also said Houchin admitted to taking the following items from the store:

4 Play Station 5’s

Steering wheel with pedals set

2 Video games

3 Funko Pop toys

8 packs of Pokémon booster packs

Pokémon trainer box

Pokémon VStar box

2 Xbox controllers

2 Nintendo Switch’s

Officers received a signed document from Houchin in his own writing about the fraud and theft he committed on the store and the items he took. Police say officers talked with Houchin in the back of GameStop and noted that he was completely cooperative and upset about what he did.

Before Houchin was taken into custody, he told officers he had one of the gift cards in his wallet.

Houchin was arrested on the charges of:

Theft Value At Least $750 But LESS THAN $50,000

Fraud

Houchin was released.

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by Anonymousreply 23December 3, 2022 10:25 PM

Wow, terrible. I never thought employees could cheat people who trade in games. I wonder if I’ve been cheated, I’ve traded in many games to Game Stop.

by Anonymousreply 1December 3, 2022 12:54 PM

How was it possible to steal so much stock and evade detection for so long?

by Anonymousreply 2December 3, 2022 12:59 PM

The arrested employee had no end game but we wanted his game stopped.

by Anonymousreply 3December 3, 2022 1:05 PM

GameStop is STILL a thing?

by Anonymousreply 4December 3, 2022 1:05 PM

R4 Yeah, physical console games are still quite popular. I guess because there's limited disk space on most consoles and digital games are rarely cheaper.

by Anonymousreply 5December 3, 2022 1:24 PM

But who will play him in the TV movie biopic?

by Anonymousreply 7December 3, 2022 1:31 PM

He certainly looks the part of someone who'd steal from GameStop.

by Anonymousreply 9December 3, 2022 1:31 PM

R8

Nah, he looks like every white male incel.

by Anonymousreply 10December 3, 2022 1:36 PM

oh,...... let him keep the 3 Funko Pop toys

by Anonymousreply 12December 3, 2022 1:38 PM

isn't the bitcoin scammer the scam? and similar hair too!

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by Anonymousreply 13December 3, 2022 1:44 PM

Is this unique or newsworthy in any way?

by Anonymousreply 15December 3, 2022 1:47 PM

[quote] Ticen

Pronounced “Tyson,” I guess? I can’t blame him for choosing a life of crime with a name like that.

by Anonymousreply 17December 3, 2022 2:06 PM

And the gay angle is….?

Is it that he’s too ugly for gay men to be interested in?

by Anonymousreply 18December 3, 2022 2:07 PM

[quote] I never thought employees could cheat people who trade in games.

He didn’t cheat customers (at least, not directly). He made fake returns. No customer involved, just him and barcodes.

And then, of course, he just flat out stole stuff from the store, but again, no customers involved.

by Anonymousreply 19December 3, 2022 2:07 PM

R19

He did cheat customers who wanted a PS5 and couldn’t get one because of lack of supply.

by Anonymousreply 20December 3, 2022 2:13 PM

someone was taking a lot from the supply closet - news at 10

by Anonymousreply 21December 3, 2022 2:38 PM

R21

We’ve been bombarded with news stories about black people stealing far less than this. Interesting that people think this is nothing but are quick to demonize black people.

by Anonymousreply 22December 3, 2022 3:02 PM

Was that the point of this nonsense?

by Anonymousreply 23December 3, 2022 10:25 PM

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