A school administrator was charged in connection with the alleged theft of more than a million dollars of chicken wings in Illinois.
Vera Liddell, the food service director for Harvey School District 152, just south of Chicago, has been arrested after authorities accused her of stealing $1.5 million worth of food, mainly chicken wings, per court documents reviewed by WGN Investigates.
Liddell was caught by the district’s business manager when a routine audit indicated the district was $300,000 over its annual budget just halfway through the year. Then, a further review found invoices for thousands of chicken wings — a food that District 152 does not serve to students.
“She discovered individual invoices signed by Liddell for massive quantities of chicken wings, an item that was never served to students because they contain bones,” said prosecutors.
Court records note that employees from Gordon Food Service were familiar with the defendant “due to the massive amount of chicken wings she would purchase,” according to The Washington Post.
Over 19 months, spanning from July 2020 to February 2022, records indicate the defendant ordered over 11,000 cases of chicken wings.
“The district cannot comment at this time because of an ongoing investigation. However, we are fully cooperating with the authorities regarding this matter,” said Barbara Mason, interim superintendent for District 152.
As reported by TODAY.com, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office confirmed that Liddell was released from jail after paying 10% of her $150,000 bail. The next court appearance for Liddell is set for February 22 at the Sixth District Courthouse.
The Cook County Public Defender’s Office defending Liddell did not immediately respond to requests by The Dallas Express regarding additional comments.
While Chicago and its suburbs have been known for high property crime rates, a similar dynamic has been playing out in North Texas, with Dallas leading the way with more than 30,344 different reported instances of theft in 2022, the result of two years of increases unchecked by City leaders.