Busse booked on theft charges

Donna Marie Becker-Busse, 54, was arrested by Grimes County Law Enforcement Officers and charged with theft against a nonprofit organization.

According to Grimes County Sheriff’s Investigator James Ellis, he was contacted by a representative in the Creative Arts Division of the Grimes County Fair Association (GCFA). That individual expressed concern when a $200 gift card from HEB that was approved to be awarded to the Creative Arts Division was not received on the expected arrival date.

Ellis said the individual contacted HEB’s corporate office in San Antonio after three weeks passed from the expected arrival date. The individual was notified the gift card had already been redeemed.

“I contacted the HEB corporate office and spoke with an individual in loss prevention and it was discovered the gift card was redeemed at the HEB located at 949 William D. Fitch Parkway in College Station,” said Ellis.

Ellis stated, “It was determined the entire $200 gift card was redeemed in one transaction, but there was still a remaining balance on the purchases being made.” It was through the form of payment used to pay the remaining balance that Ellis was able to identify Busse as the one redeeming the gift card.

“I spoke with Busse but she wasn’t truthful. She basically gave a made-up story that we were able to prove wasn’t true. We were able to pull surveillance video from HEB and it showed her redeeming the full $200 amount on the gift card,” stated Ellis.

“Grimes County Fair Association practices zero tolerance and if any suspicious activity is noticed we delegate it to the proper authorities,” explained GCFA president Rodney Floyd.

Ellis said Busse was employed as a clerk at the Justice of the Peace Pct. 3 office in the Grimes County, Navasota Annex Building, 250 Veteran’s Memorial Drive in Navasota.

“We weren’t able to prove that she actually got it out of the mail but we’re thinking that’s where she obtained the gift card,” Ellia said. The gift card was to be mailed to the extension office where it shares a mailbox with the Justice of the Peace Pct. 3 office.

Ellis said someone from the office checks the mail and disperses it throughout the office.

Busse faces charges of theft against a nonprofit organization of more than $100 and less than $750. It is a Class A Misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a maximum $4,000 fine.