Woman grabs hundreds of dollars from Cape Coral pizzeria

Paradise Pizza in Cape Coral hopes someone can help find a woman who they said took hundreds of dollars in cash.

The woman took the cash when the only server in the restaurant went to grab her to-go order.

Walking out of a restaurant with a pizza and a side of hundreds of dollars in cash is not typically how take-out orders go.

But that’s what happened at the Cape Coral pizzeria last week.

Stephen Whitcombe, the owner of Paradise Pizza, spoke with WINK News about the incident.

“This woman grabbed it. And ran for the door. The server and the manager ran out into the parking lot, and by that time, she was already in her small white SUV,” Whitcombe said.

Whitcombe has owned the pizzeria for three years, and it’s always served as a place of comfort.

“I was a regular customer. And at the time my previous wife had died. And I used to come in here. I was living on my own. And I would order a pizza and sit and have a beer,” Whitcombe said. “And I happened to be in here one night and said the owner was selling it. And I knew the previous owner. So I basically knocked on his door and said can I buy paradise pizza?”

That’s why Whitcombe wants to ensure his staff’s safety, especially after something like this.

He said the server’s book had $288 of cash payments and about $160 in tips, all for one server. To make matters worse, they’re still recovering from Ian.

They need your help to find who’s responsible for what happened at the Cape Coral pizzeria because Whitcombe wants to press charges and set an example.

“I want people to know they can’t just walk into restaurants and steal people’s money. It’s quite personal when they’re taking money out of the hand of a server who’s worked all night,” Whitcombe said.

The Cape Coral Police Department told WINK News this is an active investigation.