When A Tip Jar Theft Goes Awry

It was a normal Thursday afternoon, or so I thought.

I walked into the Bridgeport Forza in Lakewood and ordered the biggest blended mocha and sat down at a table next to the Christmas tree. Ready to hammer out some Patch work, I observed a skinny woman holding a black plastic trash bag walk in.

She asked for a glass of water to go. Forza owner and barista Ed Cedras – who is a cool and personable guy — told her she was welcome to get a glass of water from the side bar and drink it.

About six people, including myself, were inside the coffee shop. After my quick observation of the woman, I began checking my e-mail but still had my eye on her. She was acting suspicious. I had a strange feeling about her.

It was one of those, "The Book of Eli" forseeable moments.

I peered back up and noticed the woman – holding a plastic cup of water — slowly walk back toward the cash register. Nobody paid any attention to her except for me.

With Cedras behind the coffee bar at the other end, the woman flashed her dirty hands into the tip jar, grabbed a handful of money and stuffed it in her pocket.

I was the only person inside that noticed.

Do you ever get that strange feeling when a person is being suspicious based on their movements and behavior? The reason the woman walked into the coffee shop wasn't for coffee. It wasn't for water. It was to steal money from Cedras' tip jar.

Her move was so fast that I almost missed it, but my caffeine senses were piquing, and I spotted her cunning attempts to steal $14 and a plastic cup.

Sitting clear across the room, I shot up from my chair and walked toward the cash register and peered inside the tip jar, which was nearly empty. I looked down the coffee bar and blurted out, "I think that woman stole money out of your tip jar."

Without thinking, Cedras looked inside the jar and asked a guy inside to watch his store while he ran outside. He screamed.

"Hey!"

The woman turned around — thinking she had successfully fled the scene with a pocket full of $1 bills — and started to run away.

Seeing how fast Cedras closed in on the woman, I knew her attempts to get away was useless. I couldn't hear what they were saying but the woman dug her hand into her pocket. Cedras initially thought she was pulling out a gun and he turned his body so she didn't have a full-body target.

What she pulled out was the money from the tip jar. She threw it at Cedras — along with the plastic cup — and ran away toward the Lakewood Towne Center. Afterward, Cedras said one of his baristas reported a woman who fit the same description stealing money from the tip jar two weeks ago.

Cedras knew it was a petty theft crime, but he was determined to not let her get away. It was the first time he'd ran a person down for stealing from his coffee shop in Lakewood.

"I was sick of it," Cedras said.

Everybody paid little attention to what happened, but not me. And some people — unlike Cedras — may have not ran her down for a small amount of cash. Stopping a person from committing a crime felt good. In hindsight, I would've regretted not reacting to the incident, which later was the Laugh of the Day.

I'll be back to this Forza. I kind of like it here.