A former toll booth operator at the Keystone ferry terminal is accused of stealing more than $1,100 from Washington State Ferries last year.

Irene Bowers, 46, was charged in Island County Superior Court Aug. 15 with second-degree theft. She pleaded not guilty Sept. 5.

If convicted, Bowers could face up to two months in jail.

Officials with Washington State Ferries first became suspicious of Bowers after a customer on the ferry last September complained that she was charged the incorrect amount and received a handwritten receipt from Bowers, court documents state. The ferry system stopped handing out handwritten receipts months before that.

According to a report by the State Patrol, ferry management performed an audit that showed numerous mistakes were made by Bowers. Ferry supervisors believe that Bowers “might be stealing funds by zeroing out cash transactions … and also by handing out handwritten receipts,” the report states.

Last April, State officials decided to perform an audit on Bowers’ money safe at the ferry terminal. When agents showed up, Bowers became nervous and asked to go to the restroom, but instead got in her car and drove away, the State Patrol report states.

Bowers’ money safe was missing $1,133.75, the report states.

It says Bowers brought $1,150 to repay State Ferries on the day she was audited, but she said she didn’t know the exact amount she had taken.

Later, she entered the not guilty plea.