Police: Dairy Queen employee was scooping more than ice cream

A 23-year-old Bluffton man was arrested Thursday on charges he had been skimming money from customers at the Dairy Queen in Bluffton's Plantation Park, the store's owner said.

Frank Frazier was charged with breach of trust with fraudulent intent. He posted a $1,092 bond and was released Friday, according to the Beaufort County Detention Center Web site.

Frazier, who worked the drive-through station, had been charging credit card customers more than they owed and pocketing the difference, said the owner, who asked not to be identified.

The suspect gave customers register receipts that showed the correct amounts and put their credit card receipts with the amounts actually charged in the register, the owner said. He took out the cash difference from the register for himself -- a move that had been caught on surveillance tape, the owner said.

Dairy Queen employees discovered the situation when a customer came in with a bank statement detailing a higher-than-expected charge.

"She said, 'I don't know what to tell you, but I didn't spend $40 at Dairy Queen,' " the owner said.

Dairy Queen has refunded about $300 to about eight customers so far. The owner said the store has lost about $700, including both the money that Frazier allegedly skimmed and the money refunded to customers.

"We got hit on both sides," he said.

Frazier had been working at the ice cream store for only a few weeks, the owner said.

Earlier this year, another employee was arrested after fellow workers saw her stealing $100 on her first day of work, the owner said.