SMETHPORT — A former Bradford City police officer who was accused of retail theft this spring has been acquitted of all charges.

Shayne L. Miller, 45, of Bradford, appeared for a non-jury trial Wednesday before District Judge William Todd for summary retail theft charges in two cases.

Miller was accused of taking a package of meat worth between $4.50 and $5 from Walmart in Foster Township on both April 21 and April 26.

The question during trial, it seemed, wasn’t whether or not Miller took meat without paying for it, but rather whether he did it intentionally or by mistake.

Bobbi Jo Wagner of the state attorney general’s office prosecuted the case on behalf of the commonwealth, while J. Timothy George from Erie represented Miller.

First to testify was Christine True, the self checkout host who was working both days the thefts were alleged.

She described watching Miller at the register on April 21.

“He was fidgeting around and something kept popping up on the screen,” said True.

She believed what was popping up was a message stating he needed to find a different barcode on the product — a common error message when meat is scanned in — but she could not read the message from the distance. George took issue with her assertion that was the message that appeared, as she was not able to read it.

Regardless of the what the error was, both sides agreed that an icon with the word “Ok” appeared in the middle of the screen, and he would have to push the icon before he could continue scanning.

True said she started to approach to see if he needed help, but he waved her off. She did not continue to try to help him because he “seemed grouchy.”

Miller testified later that she did not approach him, and the attorneys disagreed what the surveillance video indicated.

True recalled that Miller cleared the screen by pushing ‘ok’ so he could continue. At that point, she saw there was nothing in the order on the screen, yet there was already an item in the bag.

She went up to her podium where she could see all the orders on the screen, and she saw there he had no items showing. He then scanned the other items he was buying, paid with cash and left.

True called her co-worker, Michael Johnston, the asset protection associate, and had him view the surveillance footage.

The April 26 transaction was similar, but she did not approach him.

This time, he only purchased two items — the meat and one other item — and the total came to less than $5.

Next to testify was Johnston, who prints receipts and pulls up surveillance footage when he’s investigating theft allegations. He explained the store’s policy on dealing with alleged shoplifters. Normally, “I would stop them and apprehend them myself.”

The employees who work by the checkouts are trained not to approach alleged shoplifters themselves; if Johnston or a manager is not available, the customer’s photo is printed from surveillance footage and hung where the associates can see it. They can inform him if the person returns.

According to Johnston, there are more than 100 cameras in the store, including one over each register.

Johnston concurred that footage showed on both occasions Miller hitting ok to clear a scanning error, then putting the meat in the bag without rescanning it.

The footage was played at the trial. Judge Todd asked to watch the video of the first alleged theft a second time, then the video was played a third time with the lights out in an attempt to see more details.

After the two store employees testified, George moved to have Todd dismiss the cases.

“He passed every single item across the scanner both days,” George said, noting the video even showed Miller trying to scan one item multiple times.

George compared Walmart’s self-checkout system to the one at Tops Supermarket, where Miller also shops. According to George, Tops has stronger indicators that something did not scan properly, such as a weight sensor under the bags and an audio signal. Also, the Tops register locks up until an employee comes to help.

“We submit that maybe there was a mistake,” said George.

Meanwhile, Wagner said, if it happened “maybe once, judge, I would agree it could be called a mistake.”

Wagner noted that the second order — with only two items — came to less than $5.

She referred to the video in which he had money in his hand ready to pay, then he exchanged it for a different bill when he saw the total. She also brought up how he cleared the screen on both occasions.

After listening to the attorneys argue for and against dismissing the case, Todd said, “Yeah, I’m not going to let you off that easy.”

Then George brought Miller up to testify.

Miller said he had been patrolman for Bradford City since 2006, and he had also been a police officer for Galeton, Port Allegany, Otto-Eldred and the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford departments.

During questioning, Miller was asked about instructions on the screen asking him to rescan an item.

“I thought that you had to push the ‘ok’ to continue, which is what I did,” said Miller, who admitted that he did not read every word on the screen.

According to testimony, Walmart staff did not alert Miller that he was under investigation for shoplifting, and he did not find out until Bradford City Police Chief Chris Lucco informed him on May 11 that he had to look into the allegations. A citizen — not Walmart — had filed a private complaint against Miller asserting that he was shoplifting.

When Miller found out about the allegations, “I was blown away and shocked and blindsided,” he said. “I’ve never stolen anything in my life.”

George brought in four character witnesses to testify on Miller’s behalf — all current or former Bradford City police officers who worked with Miller at one time: Deputy Sheriff Linda Close, Officer Mark Deluca, Sgt. Raymond Douglass and Deputy Sheriff Roger Sager.

All four testified that Miller had a reputation as truthful and law-abiding citizen.

“I guess what spoke to me the most was the video,” Todd said after listening to the character witnesses and closing arguments of the attorneys. “Beyond a reasonable doubt, I don’t think I can get there.”

He announced a verdict of not guilty.

Despite being found not guilty in both cases, Miller will not be working for the Bradford City Police Department, according to Mayor Tom Riel.

Riel said Miller was let go over a personnel matter, not the criminal cases. “The criminal matter had nothing to do with his personnel matter,” he said, explaining his employment was not hinged upon the outcome of the case.

“At this point he is still no longer an employee of the city of Bradford and has not been since the end of May,” said Riel.