FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A woman who was caught on video stealing a prized possession from a restaurant on Las Olas Boulevard has had a change of heart and has returned the cherished item.
Surveillance cameras rolled as a woman helped herself to a framed picture inside the Sidecar Speakeasy part of Vinos Wine Bar, located at 901 E Las Olas Blvd., just before midnight on Friday.
It was a move that made the rounds on social media and upset the bar’s owners.
“I was flabbergasted, really. You know, I just thought that it was a disappointing turn of events,” said Vinos owner David Bell.
“It’s like walking into your house and taking a picture off the wall,” said Vinos owner Clayton Chelley.
But five days later, the stolen picture is back on the wall.
“I’m just happy that we have it back,” said Bell.
The surveillance footage from Friday captured the woman fumbling with the frame as she tried to hide it in her purse. Her two companions, meanwhile, are seen trying to block the bartender’s view as they got up to leave.
“The frame is an antique frame, handed down from my wife’s grandmother, so that can’t be got back,” said Chelley, “and the funny picture in it is a funny picture of a Boston terrier smoking a pipe, which the dog looks almost exactly like our dog.”
The restaurant’s owners said the woman seen in the video returned on Tuesday.
“The woman simply walked into the front of the bar, handed the picture to the bartender and left. I mean, it was just as quick as that,” said Bell.
When asked whether the woman had anything to say, Bell replied that she “said nothing.”
Was it the attention? Was it a pang of guilt? It’s impossible to know.
But the bar’s owners said they’re thankful that she did the right thing, whatever the reason. As for her motive, they’re choosing to give her the benefit of the doubt.
“She’s probably an an animal lover. To be honest, you know, I like to think, at heart a good person, who is an animal lover, who’s just made a choice and then made the choice to return it, which was the right one,” said Bell.
Now that the picture is back, the owners said, they are not interested in prosecuting the woman, and as a customer, she is actually welcome to come back.
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