Caught on camera: Tip jar taken from West Vancouver pastry shop
A West Vancouver chocolate shop owner is warning other businesses after a man was caught on surveillance video stealing a tip bowl off the counter last Friday.
Steven Hodge, the co-owner of Temper Chocolate and Pastry, said the man ordered a sandwich and when the staff member left the counter to get it, he quickly tucked the bowl into his jacket.
He then claimed his credit card wasn’t working and would go get another card from his car. The man never returned.
Staff only discovered the tip bowl was missing at the end of their shift.
“So we went back on the cameras and looked, and were blown away,” said Hodge. “It kills me inside, it kills my staff inside, because they work hard and depend on a lot of the tips here. I just wish I had caught him.”
Hodge decided to post video of the tip bowl theft on his shop’s Instagram account, and comments started pouring in from other businesses that recognized the man.
One of them was the Bean Around the World coffee shop just a few blocks down from Temper Chocolate and Pastry.
“Immediately our group chat blew up, we were like: Is this the same guy? Because we got a video of him. And everyone immediately said yes, absolutely, that’s the same guy,” said Bean Around the World barista Alanna Ward.
She said the theft happened a few months ago and played out exactly like the one at the chocolate shop.
The man ordered a coffee and croissant.
“He tried to pay, and when it didn’t go through, he said my wife will pay in a minute and left. And we said no worries and he didn’t ever end up coming back, and we looked and our tip jar was gone,“ said Ward, who added the same man then went to an adjoining business and stole another tip jar.
“Nobody expected it, he just looked like your average person, he seemed really kind and we trusted him and he took advantage of that I guess,” said Ward.
Hodge reported the theft to West Vancouver police, and decided to change the tipping set-up at his front counter.
“We are going to have two tip jars, we will have the bowl at the till and we will have the bowl underneath, and as the tips come in, we are just going to empty them and keep them underneath,” said Hodge.
After posting the video, he doubts the thief will return to his shop. But he wants to warn others.
“We are a community, we all support each other, especially in hard times right now,” Hodge said. “Other businesses need to be aware in case he comes in.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.