Restaurant Crime Roundup
The restaurant industry is a tough one. Something like 90 percent fail, and the profit margins often are very small. And then they have to deal with small-time crooks trying to get a free buck or two. Take the following case from Manatee County, where a man managed to get $410.09 from two different restaurants using fraudulent checks.
At a restaurant in the 7100 block of Cortez Road at 6:20 p.m. Saturday, a suspect, who represented himself as being from a national insurance company, ordered food for 200 people, according to a Manatee County Sheriff's Office report.Then there's the girl who served as the getaway driver earlier this month in the Girl Scout cookie theft; she and her friend made off with $164 taken from a nine-year-old Girl Scout. The girl's back in the news, this time for walking out on a Denny's bill. Local restaurateurs, we suggest you take a long, hard look at this girl's photo; she's clearly got a habit of not paying for things.The food bill came to $1,718.91 plus $100 for a tip. The suspect paid with a business check made out for $2,000, the report stated. A restaurant employee then gave the suspect back $181.09. Later, it was discovered that the check was not issued by the insurance company and was fraudulent.
The sheriff's report said a second business in the 3600 block of Cortez Road was victimized the same way three days earlier on Wednesday, a report stated. That incident was reported to the sheriff's office on Friday.
In the second restaurant, the suspect ordered $1,771 worth of food and paid with a business check for $2,000. The victim gave the man the difference, $229.
The man never returned to get the food, and it was found that the check was fraudulent, the report stated.
Restaurants scammed [Bradenton Herald]
Teen charged in Girl Scout theft is now accused of skipping out on Denny's [Palm Beach Post]
