Kingston Cafe Suffers Two Acts of Thievery, Caught on Camera

Last week at The Kingston Mall, a woman was caught on camera stealing a tip jar from a new business in the food court, leading a fellow business owner to share the footage in hopes of finding the alleged culprit. The woman was apprehended a few days later, but a new set of thieves struck again, and Jalens Cafe has had enough.

First Act of Thievery

Becka Whelan decided to go to Jalens Café for lunch last week when she came across a very upset owner, Jesse Jimenez.

“I went down to order my lunch and Jesse seemed so defeated,” she said. “He showed me the video (of the woman) which is so heartbreaking to see…”

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Surveillance video shows a woman walking up to the counter at Jalen’s Café, rummaging through the tip jar, but decides to walk away. She then turns back around, looks around for any onlookers, and swipes the money from the tip jar.

With Jimenez’s permission, Whelan shared the surveillance footage in hopes of finding more information on her.

“Luckily the public recognized her,” shared Whelan. “She returned to the mall days later and was caught by security.”

The culprit was identified, but unfortunately, this wasn’t the last time Jalen’s Café dealt with thieves.

Second Group of Suspected Thieves Caught on Camera

The café shared another video of a group of teenagers stealing products from behind the counter a few days later.

According to their online post, they will be taking the footage to local schools in hopes of finding out the identities of the teens involved.

“We will not tolerate this,” said Jalens.

Support Small Business

“Small businesses need support more than ever,” said Whelan. “If you can’t afford to support, the last thing you should do is steal from them. We are all barely getting by.”

Tip jars are fairly common, but it’s rare to hear of people stealing them. Or maybe, it’s just rare to catch them on camera.

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for this new café at Kingston Mall. If you ever witness suspicious activity, don’t hesitate to report it.

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