Michigan - Donation Jar Thief Returns Money
Donation Jar Thief Returns Money
Thief Returns Some Money, Writes Apology
FERNDALE, Mich. -- A thief with a conscience -- That's what Dolly's Pizza employees are calling the man who was caught on camera stealing a donation jar from the Ferndale pizzeria last week, but on Saturday, he brought back some of the money with an apology attached.
"I think he may have seen himself on TV that night, and on Saturday afternoon he returned with a partial amount of money that was inside the jar," said Dolly's manager Raymond Hollifield.
The thief left an envelope on the front desk and walked out. Inside the envelope were $50 and $5 bills and an apologetic note.
"He ended up saying sorry and that he had already spent some and that he felt horrible," said Hollifield. "He ended up having a pretty good-hearted conscience."
https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gifRaw: Dolly's Employee Breaks Down After Donations Stolen
https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gifRAW: Watch Donation Jar Thieves In Action
https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gifDonation Jar Thief Returns Money, Apologizes
After the thief stole the donation jar Wednesday, local TV stations aired the surveillance video. The man first entered the pizzeria located on 9 Mile Road and stole a cardboard sign that had quarter slots for contributions.
Surveillance cameras rolled as the thief stuffed the cardboard sign in his coat, gathered his pizza order and left the restaurant.
Moments later, two men and a woman entered the pizzeria to pickup an order.
The surveillance camera showed the cardboard donation in the woman's bag.
The thieves used a handful of quarters to pay for their order. While they were paying for the pizza, one of the thieves slowly pulled a donation jar from the counter and walked out with it, police said.
The two men who came in for the second robbery were wearing Michigan Works Office nametags and carrying folders.
The Michigan Works Office is seven buildings over in the same strip mall as Dolly's Pizza.
It's unclear if the man's apology was on behalf of all of the people involved.
The donations in the cardboard container were to raise money for children with leukemia.
The donation jar was raising money to go towards funeral costs for Hollifield’s brother.
"I mean, just knowing what I have been going through the last couple of months, losing my brother.
The owner was nice enough to put out a donation jar up here and it was actually helping.
My older brother took out a loan for all the funeral costs because it was so sudden and that's what it's for, to pay that loan back," said Hollifield.
About $200 in donations was stolen.
However, after the story aired, Hollifield said that they have received 4 times the money that was originally taken.
Police are still searching for the four individuals involved in the crime.
