CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – The owner of a Broward County restaurant is upset because she said a customer paid at the register with a fake $100 bill.
Open for only three months, 3 Natives Acai and Juicery is new to Coral Springs, so when a woman ordered a smoothie and gave a fake $100 bill, it really left behind a sour taste.
It happened on Jan. 2.
The unidentified woman is at the register, and according to staff, she ordered a smoothie, handed the cashier a $100 bill, took her nearly $90 in change and left without her order.
Owner Babe Caruso said it was a bit strange.
“My team alerted me, so then I pulled the cameras and we knew who it was,” she said.
Caruso said the restaurant’s manager then pulled out the money the woman allegedly gave. At first glance, it looks real, until you take a closer look.
“If you look up in the top right-hand corner, it says ‘For motion picture purposes only,’” she said.
The woman didn’t stop there.
She’s seen on video returning to the restaurant two days later and trying to order again with money in hand.
The employee tells her they no longer accept $100 bills and she leaves.
Caruso says they haven’t seen her since, and had a message for the woman.
“Don’t be a jerk, we are a small business,” she said. “It’s hard enough right now, we can’t lose that. Hug your mom, do better in life.”
Both times the woman came she arrived in a silver or gray sedan.
Caruso says she wanted to share her story so that other businesses in the area can be on the lookout to not fall victim to this type of crime.
Anyone with information or who thinks they recognize the woman in the video is urged to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.