$136,000 Stolen At Joliet Walmart: Ex-Employee Forfeits Bond

JOLIET — If you were wondering whatever happened to the criminal case involving Melissa Vanderwall, the former night shift supervisor at the Joliet Walmart on West Jefferson Street, the case is now on hold as authorities work to find her. Last month, a Will County judge issued a warrant for her arrest after Vanderwall failed to show up for court on consecutive days in June and again on Aug. 19.

Vanderwall, who lived in Romeoville, is accused of stealing nearly $136,000 cash back on Nov. 27, 2022, from the Joliet Walmart store where she worked. A Will County grand jury indicted Vanderwall on two felonies, theft and burglary, following a Joliet police investigation.

Vanderwall was kept in the Will County Jail from March 6, 2023, until March 31, 2023; then Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak cut her bail in half, reducing it from $100,000 to $50,0o0.

On August 19, a Will County judge issued a warrant for her arrest because Vanderwall has stopped coming to her court hearings and court files show that Vanderwall has made no payments of restitution in connection with her felony theft case.

According to court records, Vanderwall, now 49, came to court in May and the judge accepted a pre-plea restitution payment plan. Then on June 5, June 6 and again Aug. 19, Vanderwall skipped out on her Will County Courthouse hearings, prompting the judge to decide enough is enough, and a no-bond warrant has been issued throughout Illinois for Vanderwall's arrest.

The Will County Clerk of Circuit Court has mailed a notice to Vanderwall, who was living on West Birch Lane in Romeoville, notifying the former Walmart store manager that her $50,000 bond is being forfeited.

"If you do not surrender yourself 30 days from the date you were ordered to appear, your bond will be forfeited, and a new criminal charge may be brought against you," stated Andrea Lynn Chasteen.

According to court documents:

On Nov. 29, 2022, Joliet police officer Matt Pesce was called to the Walmart store at 2424 West Jefferson St. to investigate a past theft. A loss prevention employee told Pesce that Vanderwall stole money from two different cash recyclers. The cash recyclers are similar to ATMs, and retail stores use them to restock their cash registers.

Video surveillance footage showed Vanderwall emptying both cash recyclers and placing the cash into a Walmart reusable shopping bag between 3:33 p.m. and 3:38 p.m. on Nov. 27, 2022.

Before leaving the store, Vanderwall gave her manager keys to a fellow Walmart supervisor, claiming she had a family emergency. Vanderwall then left the store with the cash, driving away in her blue Jeep Cherokee.