A restaurant employee was recently arrested and is facing charges of theft of property, after admitting to taking money from a pizza place, court documents say. Blas Elias Renteria, 21, said he took the money to pay for his insulin and to help his grandparents, the documents state.

Renteria, whose place of residence is listed at the 700 block of East Gutierrez Street, was arrested on Jan. 8, he was charged with theft of property greater or equal to $750 but less than $2,500, a Class A misdemeanor, an affidavit filed with the magistrate’s office states.

Renteria was also arrested and charged with racing on highway, a Class B misdemeanor, from an unrelated incident, court documents state.

An affidavit for an arrest warrant states that on Oct. 17 the regional manager for Domino’s Pizza filed a report for theft of deposits.

An employee advised the manager of several irregularities found with the deposits, the document states.

The incident occurred on Oct. 10, when Renteria was given a deposit amount of $941 from his general manager, at around 1 p.m., the document states. The deposit was meant to be taken to BBVA Compass Bank, 2228 Veterans Blvd.

On Oct. 17 the local manager was made aware of the deposits not being made, therefore the company started an in-house investigation and decided to file the report when they didn’t get an answer, the document states.

Renteria arrived at the Del Rio Police Department for his first interview, was read his Miranda warning and waived his rights choosing to speak with Detective Michelle Salinas, the affidavit states.

Renteria denied any wrongdoing, and Salinas spoke to the general manager who remembered giving the money to Renteria and not asking if he had deposited the money or not, nor asking for a receipt afterwards, the affidavit states.

Det. Salinas scheduled a polygraph test with Special Agent Leo Perez from the Polygraph Unit, who stated Renteria did not pass the test, the affidavit states.

Salinas observed Perez conducting the post-test interview and observed the suspect to be nervous, anxious and crying at times, but he continued to deny taking the money, the affidavit states.

Salinas then scheduled one last interview with Renteria at the Del Rio Police Department. Renteria spoke with Salinas and Detective Anguiano. During this interview, the affidavit states, admitted on video to taking the deposit because he was a Type 1 diabetic, and he needed the money to pay for his insulin, needles and test strips for his blood tests, the affidavit states.

Renteria also admitted to wanting to pay for groceries for his grandparents’ house where he was staying at the time, the affidavit states.

Renteria’s bond was set in the amount of $5,000 for the racing charge, and $2,000 for the theft charge, according to court documents.

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