Employee charged with stealing $12,000 in pull tabs from Swing Lounge

A 39-year-old woman is accused of stealing more than $12,000 from a downtown Spokane business where she worked by opening sealed pull tabs to let her family and friends win the prize from the gambling tickets.

Ashley H. Roberts, 39, was charged with suspicion of first-degree theft of the gaming proceeds belonging to Swing Lounge, a virtual golf business at 601 W. Riverside Ave.

Rachel Tibbits, who owns Swing Lounge with her husband, Alex, reported discovering the theft of the pull-tab winnings and suspected Roberts, who confessed to the owners and an employee that she had stolen the money, court records show. Roberts told the owners she would pay them back, the owners told police.

Roberts’ father also reported his daughter confessed she was fired from her job for stealing pull tabs and redeeming the winning tickets for cash, according to documents. Roberts told him she wrote his name and Roberts’ mother’s name on multiple winner’s information forms.

Roberts’ parents and her friend told police they never gave Roberts permission to put their names on the forms.

A Washington State Gambling Commission special agent who investigated the case wrote that Roberts stole $12,365 through her alleged fraud scheme in April and May 2024.

Roberts is scheduled for an arraignment Wednesday in Spokane County Superior Court. She was not listed Tuesday on the Spokane County Jail roster.