CORAL GABLES, FLA. (WSVN) - A former Biltmore Hotel employee was arrested after police said he stole nearly $8,000 worth of food, including 192 lobster tails.
Diego Alfredo Medina Acosta, 37, is accused in the theft that investigators said involved several types of food from the hotel’s kitchen and storage areas.
According to an arrest report, the investigation began Sept. 16 when hotel management reported the missing inventory.
The hotel’s head chef told investigators that an inventory log was updated every Sunday to keep track of food products.
The missing food included 192 lobster tails valued at $6,525, more than 116 pounds of pork belly, shrimp, calamari, snapper, chorizo, gnocchi and coconut milk.
Police estimated the total value at about $7,854.
Investigators reviewed surveillance video that they said showed Medina Acosta arriving before his scheduled work hours and entering areas where the missing food was stored.
Police said he was also routinely seen entering and leaving through different areas of the hotel instead of using the designated employee entrance.
In one instance, surveillance video allegedly showed Medina Acosta removing a cart carrying a large quantity of lobster from a storage area.
When he returned the cart, police said some of the lobster previously visible on it was gone.
During an interview with investigators, Medina Acosta said he would clock in early because he “wanted to get a head start on his work,” according to the report.
He also told investigators that after being at work for about 10 minutes, he would leave the hotel and go home to “drop off his dirty laundry” before returning to work.
When questioned about the lobster cart, Medina Acosta told investigators he had removed the lobster “in order to allow it to thaw.”
According to the report, when investigators asked why he returned the cart and why some of the lobster was no longer there, Medina Acosta was unable to provide a direct explanation.
Police said Medina Acosta resigned before hotel management was able to fire him in connection with the investigation.
The hotel’s head chef told investigators that after Medina Acosta left his job, the kitchen began having substantially more food remaining at the end of its inventory periods compared with the shortages previously documented.
Medina Acosta was arrested Sunday at 2151 Salzedo St. in Coral Gables and transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
He faces a first-degree grand theft charge.
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