A woman in Florida who has been arrested is facing theft and drug charges after police say she took a donation jar last Thursday, intended for the family of a girl who was shot and killed earlier in the week, to support her drug habit.
According to police, an officer was called into the Tapatio Restaurant in Jacksonville, Fla., on August 17 regarding a theft. It was reported that a donation jar, filled with US$600, had been stolen, but no one realized the theft had occurred until the following day.
Security footage from the restaurant posted by police shows a woman sitting at a table for a few seconds before grabbing a donation jar and putting it in her bag. Police say she then left the restaurant with the jar.
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On Saturday afternoon, police reported a citizen tip led to a lieutenant spotting the suspect walking on a street in Jacksonville, Fla. He spoke with her and “she spontaneously uttered that she had a ‘crack pipe’ on her.”
She was detained and the lieutenant seized the glass pipe.
During an interview with the woman, identified as Tammy Wynnell Crews, 46, authorities say she admitted to taking the donation jar and using the money to “support her crack cocaine addiction.”
The Miami Herald reports the jar belonged to the family of seven-year-old Heydi Rivas-Villanueva, who was shot and killed August 11 in a parked car near the restaurant when a gunfight broke out on either side of the vehicle. Three people have since been arrested in connection to the shooting.
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In response to what happened, the restaurant began collecting donations for Heydi’s family before it was taken.
Crews has since been charged with grand theft and drug paraphernalia possession, with her bond set at US$10,000.