Man accused of stealing nearly $100 from tip jar at Dutchess County deli
Manager Lauren Murray knew customers left some big tips on some big Sunday orders that day, so when the tip total for the day came up noticeably short, Murray checked the video, and called owner Fabio Rossi with the news.
The staff was appalled.
Customers were shocked.
The owners would not let it slide.
The Town of Poughkeepsie police caught up with the man who apparently stole a little under $100 in tips from employees of Alimentari Rossi & Sons Deli in Eastdale Village.
Staff told News 12 on Wednesday that sometimes, when customers knowingly leave with their order without paying, it is annoying, but the theft from the tip jar thoroughly ticked off the whole team, as well as staff at other nearby businesses.
They are glad someone has been charged. That person was identified as 30-year-old Joseph Schoonmaker, of Wappingers Falls.
"I've enjoyed the sense of camaraderie in our indignation because we all have the same opinion," cashier Hannah Reeb said.
"The sense of community supporting us and all of our customers supporting us," cashier Gianna Hurley added.
The theft happened on Sunday, May 31.
Manager Lauren Murray knew customers left some big tips on some big Sunday orders that day, so when the tip total for the day came up noticeably short, Murray checked the video and called owner Fabio Rossi with the news.
"She was like, 'Somebody stole from the tip jar.' I was home and I was like, 'What?! Are you kidding me?'" Rossi recounted. "'People still do that? They pull from the tip jar?' She's like, 'Yes.'"
They reported the theft to the Town of Poughkeepsie police.
With help from the deli's surveillance video, video from other shops and video from around Eastdale Village, Schoonmaker was arrested last week and charged with petit larceny.
"Whoever messes with us, they have to mess with our Rossi family," Hurley said, laughing.
Rossi and Murray said they took the incident so seriously because they see how hard the employees work — all 27 of them — and they deserved some kind of justice.
"Our staff continuously prioritizes our guests' needs above their own, often for very long hours at a time, going above and beyond to make sure guests enjoy their experience at Rossi's," Murray said Wednesday in an email. "Our staff shows compassion to every guest, and to be taken advantage of so blatantly is discouraging.”
