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Police: Restaurant Worker Steals Customer’s $3K Ring
April 13, 2017
It was a case where some hand lotion caused a ring to fall off the finger of its owner and into the hands of a restaurant employee who found it and tried to sell it on an internet app.
The suspect – Wesley Aaron Dicus, 27, of Escambia County – was arrested Tuesday. He was charged with grand theft and dealing in stolen property.
The victim – Patricia Norris, 39, of Pensacola – contacted police on Monday and said she had been eating dinner April 2 at a local restaurant and that she had applied some lotion on her hands while there. Norris said she believed the lotion may have caused her $2,939 diamond ring to slip off her finger. Norris told police she realized the ring was missing the morning of April 3.
She said she searched her residence and vehicle and when she couldn’t find the ring, she contacted the restaurant and asked if someone might have found it and turned it in. Norris also went to the restaurant on April 5 but still was unable to find the ring.
Meanwhile, Dedrick Geter, 39, of Pensacola who had been dining with Norris on April 2, used his cell phone to search an internet app called ”OfferUp” in an effort to find the ring. Geter found a photograph of a ring that looked exactly like the one that Norris was missing and the ad had been posted on or about April 5 by the suspect, who had been their server the night they were eating at the restaurant.
Detectives Joshua Hudson and Shannan Briarton, posing as a couple, arranged to meet Dicus in a parking lot on April 11. The suspect said he would sell them the ring for $2,000. Dicus was taken into custody after various markings mentioned by the victim were found on the ring.
Comments
23 Responses to “Police: Restaurant Worker Steals Customer’s $3K Ring”
CONSIDERING:
“if she did not leave it “laying around” then who did?”
If something slips off your finger or falls out of your pocket, you did not “leave it laying around” because you did not notice. What is more, even if you actually set something down and forgot it, that doesn’t mean you abandoned it. It may simply mean you are not paying attention.
A tip may be placed on the table, but it is usually money and less than the price of the meal. If there were any doubt regarding intent, it would be cleared up when she told them it was missing.
People who want to steal or justify thieves will twist reality beyond recognition. The fact that they have to use such gyrations indicates they realize how unlikely their “explanations” are.
Side note: I heard Frank Sinatra liked to show off so he asked his waiter what was the biggest tip he had ever received.
“$1,000.”
“$1,000? Well, here’s $2,000; don’t let anybody say I’m not the biggest tipper. Out of curiosity, though, who tipped you $1,000?”
“You did, Mr. Sinatra, last time.”
David for honest people
The article doesn’t state WHERE he found the ring. The woman said it must have slipped off her finger. That means it could have been on the floor, in the parking lot, in the bathroom, just about anywhere. It COULD have been on the table, but the article leaves the location out. Stop adding facts that are not in evidence.
That said, he should have turned it in to management, no matter where he found it. He also could have placed ads in lost and found sites or on Facebook, and he wouldn’t be in trouble now. He knew it belonged to someone and that it was an expensive ring. He had to know that they would be looking for it.
Nod
Somebody else already claimed it, I asked them to tell me any identifying markers and they knew whose face was on it..I started to just put in in the lost in found near there since maybe some one nearby lost it but I decided if someone could identify it that would be the best way to go
C. If it is green than i can prove i lost it on the road somewhere.
What If the couple just saw that the ring was on sale and lied to the police, set up a scam to frame the unsuspecting server, who actually had the ring from….who knows where. ????? They had not even ate the restaurant at all and it is not even their ring to begin with…????
I’ve read some amazing comments here. The fact is, he found the ring at the table where he had waited on this couple, so he had a pretty good idea where the ring came from and who it belonged to, yet he made no effort to try and get the ring back to it’s rightful owner. No, he put it in his pocket and then tried to sell it for financial gain. That’s called stealing and it’s WRONG no matter what spin you want to put on this story. Now, I don’t think his life needs to end over this, but he does need more than a slap on the wrist! Morals are very fluid these days, it seems.
I agree don’t make sense if the ring meant so much an cost so much why did it take the next day to see that it was gone come people if you wear a ring that cost that much you would know if it wasn’t on your hand then what’s sounds funny to me why are you putting lotion on while your eating really who does that sounds like to me it was a set up every body can stop with the I would have done the honest thing an turn it in when every body knows they would’ve
Read the story, the guy did not take it from her. She left it there after it “must have” slipped off her finger.if she did not leave it “laying around” then who did?
Where did you read that the lady took her ring off and left it “laying around” at the restaurant? I didn’t see that. Either I didn’t read the whole article, or you didn’t. Amazing.
Why would the restaurant be named? They had nothing to do with their employee’s actions. Again, what an amazing thought process people have!
Hey I found a $100 bill blowing down the road, does it belong to any of you here?
Morality is so rare. Trish must be his girlfriend, or just another person with no morals.
State law states that if you find something that does not belong to you and you keep it is considered stealing
I often leave things that cost $3000 laying around in resturants. Some people, like me, are not very responsible.
Rings are left in the restrooms of restaurants all of the time. Honest people turn them in. All of us know how bad we feel when we lose a ring. I lost one in the Chesapeake Bay years ago but it somehow washed up on shore the next day.
My thoughts on this are that you can leave your keys in your car…in don’t mean that anyone can come steal it. And that goes for this ring…an expensive ring like this should of been turned in…now this young man is going to spend a lot more than it was even worth just to hire a lawyer. And he probably lost his job. It definitely pays to be honest. And it feels a whole lot better doing the right thing and in this case returning the woman’s ring. I hope he learns a lesson from this experience.
He just thought she was leaving a generous tip.
(No, I’m not serious.)
David for better people
@Trish: Of course it’s not the servers fault. The prisons are packed full of people who are charged with crimes that are not their fault.
To Trish, the server was charged because he was trying to sell property that did not belong to him! Regardless if the ring was “found” he knew it belonged to someone. Ms. Norris had called the restaurant and informed the management that her ring was missing and could have been lost at their establishment. She and her friend even returned to the restaurant to look for the ring themselves. I feel sure the management asked their staff if anyone had seen the ring making Mr. Dicus aware of the fact that the ” expensive ring fairy” had not just smiled upon him that day and reversed his fortunes. As far as the server “being so observant”, he was plenty observant enough to know a hot piece of ice when he saw it! Really Trish, you and Mr. Dicus need to adjust the direction of your moral compass!
Anne, I think he really needed the money for a hair cut, LOL
I’m glad the LEO’s where able to find it before it was sold.
My heart sank for her when I read this.
There are many people who believe if they find something they should keep it.. wrong, yes. Criminal? yes if you know who the owner is. Have you ever found something and tried to profit from it. We all have. But in this case he probably watched her drop it. I wonder how much they tipped him???
I don’t understand why the server is being charged. Did he see the ring come off and kept quiet? If owner did not realize the ring was gone until the next day how could she assume it was at the establishment they ate at? Seems to me that the ring could have come off literally hundreds of places. If I were the server I can’t imagine being so observant that I would stare at peoples jewelry while I was taking their order. Unless there is a company policy that anything found in building should go to manager for lost and found, I really don’t understand why the charges. Grand Theft and stolen property??? Did he suggest the customer use lotion in hopes that her ring would slip off so he could pick it up and sell it? I am sure there is more to the story, however people find things all of the time. Yes in a perfect world they can do all they can to find the owner, but if they don’t it does not make them a criminal. Just my thoughts.
The restaurant had nothing to do with this. Why should it be mentioned? What a stupid mistake, those servers are not broke.
glad they caught the scum bag. Why was the name of the restaurant not mentioned?