Yes you can press charges. You did not get paid for what the customer bought...and the customer can also press charges. He stole from both of you. I hope that customer smartens up in the future.

The term "press charges" is somewhat of a misnomer. What your employee did was a crime, and you should call the cops. However, the decision to file charges is 100% up to the DA. In the alternative, most jurisdictions allow a citizen to effectuate a prosecution. Here, you accuse the person of the crime and you actually present the evidence and try the case. If you want the person to be prosecuted and the prosecutor decided not to, there is nothing you can do to force the prosecutor into prosecuting. Conversely, if you don't want to file, the prosecutor could still file charges. In this case, it would seem that there would be plenty of evidence and the prosecutor would most likely file. But when you talk about "pressing charges," all you are really talking about is deciding whether or not to involve the criminal Justice system. Cops often use ask "do you want to press charges." They do this for one of two reasons. First, if they cannot arrest, you still can and prosecute the case (this allows the cop to take a person into custody who the couldn't otherwise). They also ask you when there is probable cause to arrest, but the evidence is primarily your word against the accused. In these cases, if you do not cooperate, the person will go free due to lack of evidence. Thus, the cops would rather not arrest if you are just going to not cooperate in the future.