ESSEX, Vt. -
$20,000 went missing from The Sports and Fitness Edge in Essex and police say it was one of the fitness instructors who stole it.
Police arrested 30 year old Chantal Sturgeon of Colchester Thursday for embezzlement.
Sturgeon was an Edge employee for three years, and police say she was stealing money that entire time... more than six thousand dollars each year.
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Once the fitness director at The Edge in Essex, now, 30 year old Chantal Sturgeon is accused of embezzling more than $20,000 from the sports and fitness club.
"It was a pretty lengthy investigation," Essex Police Detective Christopher May said.
Police say for all three years that Sturgeon worked there, she was stealing money.
I asked, "do you know what the largest payout was to her, during those three years?" Detective May replied, "I do not."
Police also aren't saying yet just how she stole that much money, or if she had direct access to the club's account, but she had gained their trust and worked her way up from being a personal trainer to the fitness director.
"She did have certain powers versus a normal employee," Det. May said.
When I stopped by The Edge, no one was willing to go on camera until after she's officially charged at the end of March, but several employees said they were shocked to hear the news.
They also told me they took their suspicions to police a few months ago. Police interviewed Sturgeon, pulled all of the financial records and took statements from the staff. All of the evidence collected led to her arrest.
"I don't think she was happy to get the citation," Det. May said.
Police told me that as soon as Edge officials became suspicious, they fired Sturgeon.
She is scheduled to be in court March 28th.
It's unclear if the club will ever get the $20,000 back.
