Overview
- Investigators say former parking attendant Zillah Kaitlin Bell, 29, routed cashless fees to a personal Square account and she has pleaded not guilty to felony grand theft.
- The scheme allegedly ran from May through August 2024 and surfaced after a visitor presented an off-looking receipt that prompted a review.
- Surveillance footage from newly installed booth cameras paired with point-of-sale and vehicle-entry logs linked more than 2,300 patron transactions to the unauthorized account.
- Auditors noted Bell had been flagged in the 2017 review and removed in 2016, yet she was rehired in 2024, prompting county discussions about HR flags to prevent rehiring terminated employees.
- OCCC says cameras, a cashless POS and stronger controls are in place and plans include digital ticketing with QR codes and a system to match each vehicle to a payment, significant for a parking operation that generated about $11.3 million in FY2024.