PORTER COUNTY, Ind. (WKRC) -- A former Olympic athlete said her life has been "a living nightmare" after a self-checkout kiosk fiasco led to her losing her job as an NCAA Division 1 softball coach at Valparaiso University.
According to The New York Post (NYP), citing theNational Post, 48-year-old Meaggan Pettipiece, a former Olympian from Blenheim, Ontario, was scanning her groceries at a self-checkout kiosk at a Walmart location in Indiana back in March. While checking out, the kiosk reportedly failed to scan ham and asparagus that Pettipiece said she meant to purchase.
Walmart security personnel noticed that the items, worth about $67, had not been scanned and called authorities, according to the NYP, which noted that Pettipiece had paid for the other $176 worth of groceries.
Pettipiece was taken into custody and during the arrest, officers searched her purse and discovered three disposable vapes and two unopened packs of Zofran, an anti-nausea medication, per the NYP.
According to the National Post, Pettipiece was charged with the following on March 28:
According to the NYP, Pettipiece resigned from her position as head coach for the Valparaiso softball team on April 1. It came after her arrest made headlines across Indiana, per the publication.
When speaking to the National Post, the former Olympian said the vapes contained no THC or nicotine, adding that the Zofran belonged to an assistant coach who had asked Pettipiece to keep them in her purse during a game prior to her arrest.
Pettipiece, a former softball outfielder who played for the Canadian National team in the 2000 Sydney Games and was an alternate for the 2004 Olympic team, told the National Post that she and the assistant coach "forgot about" the anti-nausea meds.
"The softball community is a tightknit group and it [the news] went through like wildfire. You really do learn who the people are that really believe in you and trust you and are truly a friend for you," Pettipiece told the National Post.
Pettipiece notably coached in stints at colleges in Ohio and Michigan, before she took the head coaching position in Valparaiso, per the publication.
According to the NYP, an attorney representing the former All-American softball player submitted an application for dismissal, and the charges were ultimately dropped on September 19, following a review.
"It is bittersweet," Pettipiece said of the charges being dropped when speaking to the National Post. "I'm happy, obviously, the charges were dismissed. The sad part is the damage it did to my career. It has changed everything in my life."
Pettipiece described the situation as "a living nightmare."
"It's been five months, a living nightmare. I lost my career, I lost my job, the life I was building and it's been really difficult," she added when speaking to the outlet from her home in Ohio, where she now lives with her family.
As a coach at Valparaiso, Pettipiece told the outlet that she had been living in Indiana with her family home still in Ohio, going on to say "I'm happy my family's all back together."
"We sacrificed as a family for me to be there coaching and continuing my coaching career," Pettipiece said when speaking to the publication.
With the charges dismissed, Pettipiece can now teach again.
Pettipiece told the National Post that she was considering starting a career as a softball umpire at the college level rather than a return to coaching, however.
"I'm not sure of the future. For now, I'm going to stay at home and focus on my kids. I'd like to figure out which direction I'm going to go in," Pettipiece told the publication.