CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A local chef said a man broke into his restaurant stealing a cash register, some supplies and a slice of cheesecake on Friday morning.
Ginger Café owner/chef Jordan Jaradat said his restaurant on Staples near Lipes was robbed at 1:30 a.m. after the man kicked in the back door of the restaurant.
“I was very upset,” Jaradat said. “I was like ‘What are you doing? Why did you just try to break the register? What are you doing?’. And, at the end, when I saw the cheesecake I was like ‘OK, he must be hungry.”
Jaradat said he knows his cheesecake is good, but, good enough to steal?
“He looked at the cheesecake that I usually make and he took a plate of it,” he said.
Surveillance footage given to KRIS 6 News by Jaradat shows the reported thief wearing a long-sleeve shirt and hat trying to break into the cash register. Having no luck breaking into it, he cuts the power cord and takes the whole thing.
“At first he tried to find the camera recorder but he couldn’t find it because we hide them,” he said.
Jaradat also is the owner of Chops and Eggs. He said back in 2016, the old location burned down because of arson.
“And they took the DVR,” he said.
So this time they were prepared — just not for the thief to satisfy his midnight craving.
“He was like ‘I’m going to enjoy that!’ " Jaradat said. "It looks so funny.”
He said he had to replace the door in the back, but they didn't realize the full extent of what had been taken until employees started into their workday.
“We couldn’t just go in right away and look,” he said. “We started missing stuff. ‘Oh, where’d it go? Oh, it was stolen.' ”
He said he believes the man in the video was a former employee.
“It’s so sad to see that people just do that and take advantage of our kindness,” he said.
Jaradat reported the burglary to police and anyone with any information is asked to call the Corpus Christi Police Department at (361) 886-COPS.
“There’s jobs,” Jaradat said. “Getting a job is better than stealing from other people and hurting other people you know.”
