CORRECTION JUNE 5: According to Las Vegas police, an arrest has not been made in the tip jar theft.
Police are currently looking for a possible suspect by the name of Jennifer Noriega on a charge of petty larceny. They have not been able to locate her yet.
ORIGINAL STORY
LAS VEGAS (KTNV) -- A woman was caught on camera stealing a tip jar from Teriyaki Madness near North Decatur and the 215 beltway.
Las Vegas police say they arrested the woman in the video after it was viewed nearly 3,000,000 in just 24 hours.
Dean Clarino, owner of Teriyaki Madness, says he was notified by one of his employees Friday night around 7:30 p.m. that someone had just taken their tip jar after asking for a sample of beef.
"She basically walked up to the cashier and asked to have a sample of food and at Teriyaki Madness, we cook to order so we don't usually have samples so she kind of bullied the cashier and said I want a sample of your beef," said Clarino.
It was at that moment, the video shows the cashier turning around to ask the cook if that was possible and you see the woman open up her purse and stick the tip jar inside.
"It was a victimless crime, nobody was hurt, it wasn't a robbery, but you don't know what her next attempt could be,” said the owner.
Clarino posted the video on Facebook Saturday night and 24 hours later, it was viewed nearly 3,000,0000 times and shared tens of thousands of times.
Clarino is shocked at the response because he has posted videos similar to this before and did not see these kind of numbers.
“In the past, I get no replies,” he said. “12 ‘likes’, 11 ‘likes’, But this particular video for some reason went viral and I don’t really understand why.”
He is appreciative everyone wanted to help catch the woman in the video but he is a little upset at what the conversation has turned into.
“Some see the issue at hand, a person taking.....theft,” he said. “But I would say 90% of them go into racism or politics.”
The viral video has also caused other people to allegedly recognize the woman.
The owner at Sabatino’s Authentic NY Pizzeria believes they fell victim to the same ‘tip jar theft’ crime by the same woman. The video was posted to their Facebook page after Teriyaki Madness posted theirs.
Police believe the woman may have hit up to 30 other businesses in Las Vegas but have no police reports to prove it so if you think you were hit, you are urged to call police.
