Girl Scout manager charged with stealing $10,000 in cookie money

The leader of a Toledo, Ohio, Girl Scouts troop was arrested last week, charged with stealing more than $10,000 raised during a cookie drive.

Tarra Kopp-Headley, a 32-year-old volunteer troop manager, allegedly took $10,284.50 in cookie money, Lucas County Police say, and made more than $1,700 in unauthorized cash and check withdrawals from the troop's checking account between December and April.

"It was a large amount and it's something that we don't take lightly," said Girl Scouts spokeswoman Shonna King told Toledo News Now. "And after several attempts to recoup that money and resolve the situation with the leader, we had to take the next appropriate steps."

Kopp-Headley was supposed to deposit the cookie money in the Scout account and "made numerous promises to pay," according to the complaint, but never did. That led to a police investigation and Kopp-Headley's arrest on June 27, according to the Lucas County Sheriff's Office.

"Not only does this take money away from the troop, but it takes away money that they can use for their different activities," King said. "It also takes away money that's going back in the community for girls."

Kopp-Headley was released on $5,000 bond, and is scheduled to appear in court on Friday. She did not immediately return a request for comment.

It's not the first time Girl Scout cookies were at the center of a scandal. In March, two Girl Scout troops in Oregon say they were duped into fulfilling a $24,000 order from a local company for 6,000 boxes of cookies, only to find out the sale was a hoax.

"I contacted the company and they said, 'We have no idea what's going on,'" scout mother Jennifer Reed told "Good Morning America" at the time.

The troops held an "emergency sale" and were able to move the excess inventory.