NORTH MIAMI, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida seafood restaurant owner said a woman used an unattended credit card to buy more than $300 worth of stone crabs.
Surveillance cameras captured the credit card and crab thief at Captain Jim’s Seafood Market & Restaurant on Nov. 23.
“She saw [the credit card], she pulled it out, put it back in and used it,” said David Garcia, the restaurant’s owner. “That camera was definitely zoomed in very well.”
Garcia said the security footage shows when the subject used someone else’s American Express card to purchase the pricey seafood.
“I’m out $350 of stone crabs,” said Garcia.
Garcia said the theft happened when a longtime customer came in and used his credit card to buy $328 worth of stone crabs, and accidentally left the card in the card reader.
“The next day he comes in and tells us, ‘Hey, you double charged me. How could this be?’ And I said, ‘Hey, let me check,’ and sure enough, I started looking,” said Garcia.
That’s when the restaurant owner searched his cameras and saw the card was still in the machine, but as he kept watching, he saw the woman, who was waiting to buy six pounds of jumbo stone crabs, as she took the card.
“She looked around to make sure whether somebody was watching or not, and she charged $350 worth of stone crabs on it,” said Garcia.
Furious by what the video showed, Garcia went to social media and posted the video.
“I said, ‘You know what? This is not just going to end here. I’m going to at least let this person know, like, to do right,'” said Garcia.
He said he hopes the video will shine a spotlight on what it shows the woman did, and hopefully get the money back.
“Just very unfortunate that somebody would take advantage of somebody else, especially during these times,” said Garcia.
When asked what he would like to see happen, Garcia said all he wants is an apology and his money back.
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