The former manager of Baby’s Burgers and Shakes is facing felony charges after she allegedly stole nearly $80,000 from the downtown State College restaurant over a two and a half year period.

Cassandra M. Lopez, 54, of Philipsburg, was charged on Thursday with counts of theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception and receiving stolen property.

Baby’s owner Fred Wood initially reported to State College police in July that he suspected one of his employees was stealing money from the business after noticing an occasion where $650 was to have been deposited into the bank, but only $450 was actually deposited. He said that Lopez was responsible for making bank deposits.

According to a criminal complaint, Wood conducted an audit and reported tom police on Aug. 14 that $79,661.21 was stolen between February 2016 and July 2018. He believed Lopez stole more than $13,000 in 2016, more than $42,600 in 2017 and nearly $24,000 in 2018 before she was fired in July, police said. He added that Lopez made efforts to conceal the losses.

A detective interviewed Lopez, who allegedly admitted to stealing money from the restaurant. She agreed with the amounts reported for 2017 and 2018 but said she did not remember taking any money in 2016, according to the complaint.

Lopez allegedly said “that she was owed money for certain things pertaining to the business and she said that she was going to get her money back one way or another.” She also said she should have approached the situation differently, according to the complaint.

Lopez was arraigned on Thursday before District Judge Carmine Prestia and was released on recognizance. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 5