MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A Miami Beach business owner is outraged after someone stole money right out of their tip jar.
The cash was meant for his hard-working servers, and the crime was caught on camera.
Surveillance video shows a man at the takeout window.
As the waitress goes to fill a cup of water for him, the man starts reaching inside a tip jar.
When she comes back with the water, he takes a sip, and when the coast is clear, he cleans out the rest of the cash.
Adrian Gonzalez, owner of David’s Cafe Cafecito on Alton Road in South Beach, said around $80 was taken. It happened around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.
"What kind of person does that?" he asks.
Gonzalez said the waitress, a single mom, is one of the few employees still on his payroll.
"For a server that lives off the tips, that’s almost a week’s food for the kids, you know? It’s a lot of money," said Gonzalez.
He worries this is a sign of the times, as everyone grows desperate and as mom-and-pop restaurants, which are closed except for takeout and delivery, struggle to survive.
"As a matter of fact, if he came here and asked for a meal, I would have given it to him," Gonzalez said. "Because we’ve never said no.
“There’s no reason to take away from someone who’s struggling just to make it. It breaks my heart to see that. It’s not right.”