Tip Jar Thieves Caught On Camera At Audrey’s Concerto (Video)

The tip jar at Audrey’s Concerto (2379 86th Street) has been robbed three times since it opened in 2012, but the kind-hearted employees say they won’t be pressing charges. Instead, they’ve decided to post the videos online as a warning for other 86th Street businesses and future thieves.

In the most recent incident, which occurred on January 5 at 8pm, surveillance footage shows a lanky teenager ordering coffee, and then putting the entire tip jar into his bag while an employee’s back is turned. The teen then nervously offers the employee, Richard, a donut before fleeing the bakery.

Richard told his colleagues that he declined to report the robbery, because he felt sorry for the youth.

“The fact that this guy came in to steal somebody’s tip jar indicates some kind of neediness or financial trouble,” said Angel Mak, who helps her sister Audrey run the bakery. “And Richard said he’s not under any financial stress, so he didn’t feel comfortable pressing charges.”

Mak estimated that the jar contained between $15 and $20 at the time of the crime.

The bakery’s tip jar was first robbed in November 2012, shortly after Superstorm Sandy. Two young adults, a man and woman, came in and grabbed cash from the jar.

The bakery tried switching the tip jar for one that had a smaller opening and posted the video on their Facebook page, but later that year, an older man walked in and surveillance footage showed him covering the jar with a book as he pilfered $25 from the jar.

Mak, who was manning the counter that day, said she exclaimed aloud that the tips were stolen, and immediately a customer placed a $20 bill into the jar. It’s that sense of community, she said, that dissuaded her from calling the police.

“I feel like this is our neighborhood and everyone who comes in and out are our neighbors, and we really want to keep that sense of community,” said Mak. “Since we don’t know everyone’s situations and their stories, we want to be sensitive about where they are coming from.”

Instead, the bakery – which sells French-Asian fusion cakes as well as brunch – decided to post the videos online. Ideas from customers have poured in, with one suggesting that they bolt the jar down to their counter – an idea that was nixed because it wouldn’t work with the tiles – and another proposing crazy glue.

There have been no similar incidents at neighboring businesses, Mak said.Hopefully, this video will keep the tip jar thieves at bay!