Marietta business owner arrested for grand theft

A Marietta woman and business owner was arrested Friday on a grand theft charge.

The Marietta Police Department, with the assistance of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, executed two search warrants Friday which resulted in the arrest of a local business owner, Stacey Ann Johnson, 48, on a fourth-degree felony charge of grand theft, according to a press release from the MPD.

The search warrants were served for the business, Stacey’s Dance Studio, 205 Pike St., and the residence of Johnson, the owner, at 631 Sixth St.

On May 7, an MPD detective was approached by a group of parents of nine students of the studio who advised that in late 2023/early 2024 they had paid for costumes and numerous other fees for their children to participate in three dance competitions during the spring of 2024, the release said.

From the parents in total she had collected at least $10,695, the release said. In mid-April, Johnson met with a group of the parents and informed them that they were not going to be performing at the three competitions in 2024, the release said.

According to the release, Johnson told them one of the three organizations would refund their money and the other two organizations would not refund but would apply the fees to 2025.

Suspicious of this, one of the parents made calls to the competition organizations and learned that Stacey’s Dance Studio had never registered for the 2024 competitions, and this was confirmed by the detective, the release said.

By mid-May a few parents received a partial refund while many of the parents have received nothing, the release said.

Marietta Police request that any persons who may have been a victim of alleged fraud or theft by Stacey’s Dance Studio to contact Detective A.J. Linscott at 740-376-2007 ext. 1319.