HAMDEN, CT - A gas station employee allegedly made off with more than $17,000 in cash, cigarettes and lottery tickets on his very first day of work.

The theft happened late January at the Go On Gas station in Hamden, Connecticut. Police say management had just hired a new overnight employee to run the station on his own.

But when the store owner used an app to check how his employee was doing via the store cameras, he was shocked to find that his brand-new employee was nowhere to be seen.

“[The owner] quickly ascertained that the new employee had left,” the Hamden Police Department said in a statement. “The store owner immediately responded to the store and ascertained that the new employee had stolen numerous items including lottery tickets, 89 boxes of cigarettes and money.”

The total loss is valued at $17,183.00, according to Hamden police.
The suspect also stole his employment folder with all of his personal information in it, meaning that the store owner not only has no way to identify the man. The store owner told police he hadn't yet learned the name of his new worker either.

“Careful whom you hire!!,” the department said in a post on Facebook.

The suspect is still at large, and anybody with information on the suspect is asked to contact the Hamden Police Patrol Division.