GRAVENHURST, ON – A thief was caught redhanded stealing tip money from teenaged workers in Gravenhurst.
A man was seen taking a $5 bill from a cup at Tastebuds on Phillip Street East. According to shop owner Steve Hamer, the incident happened Friday, September 20th.
He said one of his workers knew the bill was in the cup and then noticed it went missing between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Hamer reviewed the tape, found the culprit and went to social media to see if anyone knew his identity.
“It was amazing,” Hamer said. “Literally within minutes of putting in on Facebook we had seven people message us, giving us a name. I could not believe how fast it happened.”
The name Hamer got can’t be published because he has contacted police who will be conducting an investigation.
Hamer said the quality of the video is a happy coincidence because he didn’t install them to catch thieves. He said the previous owners installed cameras and he uses them to monitor staff and make sure they are safe.
Hamer was mostly disappointed that someone would do this in his community.
“I mean, it’s not right.” Hamer said “It is pretty sad when you’re stealing from the tip jar. They’re learning, they’re working hard and then someone takes it from them.”
Hamer wanted other businesses owners to know that the man was out there stealing and hoped the video going viral would deter anyone else thinking of doing the same thing.
