Pizza manager steals food but lets it rot in her garage

LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- A pizzeria manager has been accused of trying to increase her store's sales by ordering 400 large pizzas and then leaving them to rot in her garage.

Kimberly Hericks, 36, wanted to increase sales at the Donato's Pizza shop so she could get her name in a company newsletter, said Kim Kowalski, a spokeswoman for the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office.

The store's owner discovered the pizzas when he went to help Hericks move, police said.

Hericks is accused of stealing $38,326 from Donato's Pizza, including the value of the pizzas she ordered. She also allegedly forged documents and damaged company equipment to cover her activities, according to police reports in this Cleveland suburb. Police allege that she wrote $3,000 in checks on a closed account to try to make restitution to the shop's owner.

Hericks confirmed that she kept the pizzas in her garage but declined to comment further.

She was indicted on charges of theft, forgery, vandalism and passing bad checks. She faces up to 5 1/2 years in prison.