Beggars steal staff tips from pizzeria after being bought meal by good Samaritan

[dutchman]

The incident happened at Basement Browns in the city centre



An act of kindness by a good Samaritan turned sour when the people she was trying to help stole a collection box for staff tips at a Coventry restaurant.

A big-hearted woman offered to buy food for a man and a woman she had encountered begging in the street at Basement Browns on High Street yesterday (Tuesday, June 18) evening.

But when she had paid for their food, and left the restaurant, the couple became aggressive with staff, according to owner Rupi Sandhu.

He told CoventryLive they had demanded the money for the food be handed over, and while staff dealt with the disturbance the man grabbed the tip box from the counter - estimated to contain up to £150.

“For the woman passing by it was obviously a very kind thing to do," Mr Sandhu said.

“She paid for their food then left the store. They said ‘we want the money - we don’t want the food’.

“It happened shortly before 8pm and as soon as the woman who had bought the food left they got funny - they took advantage of this member of the public.

“They’d been asking for money but she said ‘I will not give you money but I will buy you food’.

“They were being aggressive, the guy was leaning over the counter - they grabbed the money and legged it.”

West Midlands Police are investigating the incident and have appealed for any witnesses to come forward.

Mr Sandhu said officers conducted a search of the area and took away CCTV footage which had been captured at the scene.

He added that the experience had been a shocking and upsetting one for staff.

“The staff were very upset and stressed by it all, “ he said.

“We were busy and they caught us off our guard at a busy time.

“The staff did everything right too, they weren’t unpleasant or aggressive back to them at all.”

[rebbonk]

It is so hard for most of us to identify the ones genuinely in need.

[dutchman]

I don't understand why the police don't move them on any more? There's one lying permanently on the ground opposite the exit from Morrison's. The staff ignore him, the security guard ignores him, the manager ignores him and even off duty police doing their shopping there ignore him!

[Jock Strapp]

Street begging is illegal, lying on the grass is not. An off duty policeman has no more power than you or I but there is nothing stopping bhim from notifying other plods of the situation, that is if another plod can be found.
On another forum that I occasionally visit someone asked why police are not at polling stations as they were in the past. Not enough police for normal police duties I would think. On a previous thread I commented that police are no longer doing foot patrols in Allesley village or Allesley Park but we are invited to have a Cuppa with a Coppa once a month at the Mocha lounge, that place is a pizza shop in Allesley Park.This government resents spending any money on public services, that is why a policeman is almost an obsolete creature now. As for the theft at the shop first mentioned on this thread it is clear that money was not wanted for food. The £150 estimated money in a collection box is a bit doubtful unless the box had been there several years or an insurance claim will be made.