Thief Caught On Camera Stealing $20,000 From Wedding

A bold thief walked into a crowded seafood restaurant that was hosting a wedding banquet and stole an estimated $20,000 in gift money, the Pasadena Star-News reported Tuesday. In a Facebook video hosted by the groom, Kenny Diep, surveillance footage showed the entire incident in clear detail.

The wedding banquet had 250 guests in attendance at 888 Seafood Restaurant in Rosemead, California, the Star-News reported. At the beginning of the surveillance footage, a man can be seen casually sauntering into the restaurant’s lobby and approaching the check-in area for the banquet. Once he got close enough, he snatched the heart-shaped gift box full of cash and ran out of the restaurant with several guests chasing after him.

All of that took place in a span of fewer than 60 seconds. The thief, who had not yet been caught or identified, did not make any effort to hide his appearance or avoid the surveillance camera. Instead, he opted to pull off the wedding heist in a brazen manner.

To make matters worse for the bride and groom, the theft happened at the beginning of the banquet. Instead of screeching to a halt, the event went on as planned after the theft for the sake of the hundreds of guests who made their way out to the restaurant, bride Anh Diep told the Star-News.

As couples around the country rang in the near year by getting married, the Rosemead theft was not the only instance of someone stealing from a wedding. Police in Petaluma, California continued searching for a woman who snuck into multiple weddings during the first week of the year and stole credit cards out of people’s purses, the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat reported. Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, a thief made off with the newlywed couple’s car on the night of their wedding and stole the gifts that were inside the car before it was recovered later.