PANAMA CITY — The former director of the St. Andrews Marina was arrested and jailed in Kentucky on a fugitive warrant to await extradition back to Bay County to answer to charges that she stole money from the city of Panama City and a freezer from a local business, police said Wednesday.
The U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force for the Western District of Kentucky arrested 49-year-old Susan Payne in Bowling Green Tuesday evening, according to a staff member at the Warren County Jail, where she is being held. A judge signed arrest warrants for Payne on Jan. 14, and the Panama City Police Department said she is charged with 11 counts of grand theft for stealing from the city and an additional count for stealing from the business, which a police news release did not identify.
Payne was fired from her job as dock master at the marina in September after officials determined she had used city resources for personal gain, created a hostile work environment, lied to her supervisors or the public, falsified or omitted information on work documents and other deficiencies. One employee complained after Payne allegedly grabbed her breasts and said: “My breasticles are bigger than your testicles….”
It is not clear why Payne went to Kentucky or how long she had been there. Officials at the time made no secret of the fact the investigation could lead to criminal charges against her.
The police investigation found 11 separate occasions that Payne stole from the store at the marina, according to police. Those 11 thefts totaled $3,948.74. Police allege she also stole a commercial freezer worth about $3,500 from another business at the marina and had it delivered to her Panama City home.
Police said Payne tried to influence another marina employee to find and take unspecified documents from the store during the investigation.
It’s not clear when Payne will be extradited. Police asked anyone with information about the case to contact Lt. Robert Luther at 850-872-3100 or report it anonymously to CrimeStoppers at 850-785-TIPS (8477).