ALBANY, Ore. -- Police arrested a woman Wednesday in connection with a string of vending machine thefts.

Police in several cities in the Willamette Valley are investigating a series of vending machine thefts, where a woman posed as an employee of the vending company then stole the machines and the money inside.

Police said they arrested Jacqueline Orr, of Albany, on Wednesday after they identified her from surveillance video at an Albany supermarket.

The machine taken from the front of the Ray's Food Market in North Albany on April 25 dispensed toys. Neither the machine nor its contents have been found, police said.

But investigators identified Orr on the surveillance video as the woman who came into the store with her daughter and took the machine. Managers said she was fired from the store about three months ago.

The owner of Fire Pit Tavern in Lebanon, Mark Hyre, said the woman who stole the machine from his tavern rolled in another one as a kind of decoy and then took his candy machine.

"I saw her bring another machine in and grab that one and take it out again," Hyre said.

The owner of the vending company, Jay Shields, said he knows about the scenario. He's recently lost four candy machines like it.

"It sure seems like there's a connection. Some machines get taken, that one's brought into another business, after it's been pried open and left as a sort of replacement machine," Shields said.

Although the machine taken from the Ray's Market in Albany belonged to another company, Shields said one of his machines was found in the lot near Ray's broken beyond repair.

It was a candy dispenser like the one taken the day before from the Fire Pit Tavern. Hyre said photos from his surveillance video made him suspicious.

"Our daytime bartender says she was clearly not the owner of the machine," Hyre said.

Orr was booked on theft charges and later released pending trial.

The man who answered the door at Orr's address said she was not able to talk about the charges.

The vending company owner said the machines cost about $800 each. So he's out $3,200 plus the money and merchandise inside each and he wasn't the only victim of the crimes.

"In Lebanon, for instance, we donate a portion of the money to the booster club at the high school. In Albany, we give to the veteran's committee, which sponsors the Veterans Day Parade," Shields said.

The owner of the business said he's not lost any more vending machines since the theft at the Fire Pit Tavern.

Investigators are still working to see if the cases are connected.

Woman Accused Of Stealing Vending Machines