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Caught In The Cookie Jar: South El Monte Girl Scout Troop Leader Accused Of Stealing $6K

ARCADIA (CBS) — Honesty wasn't a lesson learned by one San Gabriel Valley Girl Scout troop leader who was reportedly caught with her hand in the cookie jar -- literally.

South El Monte/El Monte Troop leader Ana Isabel Juarez, 30, was arrested on April 17 for allegedly using her Girl Scout debit card to treat herself, according to the Arcadia Police Department.

"It was just shocking to see that we became her own personal piggy bank: gas, nails, Nordstroms, Victoria's Secret," said troop co-leader Verna de los Reyes.

The purchases were reportedly made from Sept. 2011 through March 2012, the Pasadena Star News reported.

De los Reyes said about $2,000 is missing from the troop's accounts, in addition to $4,000 in cash that was raised during the Girl Scout cookie sale.

"The cash never made it to the bank," de los Reyes said.

CBS2 reporter Jeff Nguyen went to Juarez's home Tuesday but was turned away by a woman at the door -- "You need to leave."

A man identified himself as Juarez's husband, but when he asked him about her arrest he refused to comment.

Police booked Juarez after the Girl Scouts organization reported the missing money.

A Girl Scouts executive said Juarez has a 6-year-old daughter who was a member of the troop before the news broke.

Ten girls each sold more than 500 boxes of cookies with the hope of winning an American Girl doll and a limousine ride. Sadly, there's not enough money now in the troop's fund to make that happen, said Berna Reyes, whose daughter is also a troop member.

Juarez also had an arrest warrant out stemming from a 2001 grand theft embezzlement case in Huntington Park, the Star News reports.

She is due in court on May 8.

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