ELKINS — The case against a Randolph County man accused of embezzling over $1,000 from the Elkins Walmart in 2024 will be brought before the Grand Jury after he waived his right to a preliminary hearing.

Mike Ronald Helmick, 56, appeared in Randolph Magistrate Court with attorney Steve Nanners Tuesday afternoon and waived his right to a preliminary hearing. Helmick is charged with one count of embezzlement, a felony, and was placed on a $2,000 property/surety bond.

With the waiver, Helmick’s case will now be considered by the Randolph County Grand Jury during their next session.

According to the criminal complaint filed by Senior Deputy T.J. Knotts with the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, Knotts was contacted by the Elkins Walmart Asset Protection in December of last year in regards to an employee, identified as Helmick, stealing money “on several occurrences” between October 2024 and December 2024.

The complainant provided Knotts with 12 statements and copies of CCTV footage, the complaint states. The statements and CCTV footage detailed incidents in which Helmick allegedly “conducts transactions while working at Walmart, then pockets money provided to him by customers or unlawfully takes it from the cash register.

Between October 28, 2024 and December 3, 2024, Helmick is allegedly seen on CCTV pocketing different amounts of money handed to him from customers and directly from the registers, the complaint states.

On occasion, Helmick allegedly scanned items into the system only to open the register and take out cash, and was also allegedly seen rearranging the register only to make a pile of cash on the side and put it in his pocket, the complaint states. The largest amount of cash Helmick allegedly stole totalled $245 on November 29, 2024 when he scanned a Fanta to open the register to retrieve the money.

The total amount of money taken from Walmart from October to November 2024 equaled approximately $1,171.29, according to the complaint.