B.C. Tim Hortons customer caught on camera dipping into donation bin: witness

A Kelowna driver said it was hard to believe what he witnessed unfold in front of him at a Tim Hortons drive-thru Tuesday afternoon.

The man, who does not want to be named, said he saw the driver in front of him try to use coins from the donation bin underneath the drive-through window to pay for his order.

The witness captured the incident on his vehicle’s dash cam.

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It all unfolded at a Kelowna Tim Hortons location near Harvey Ave. and Spall Rd. on Tuesday afternoon.

The witness said it appeared that the driver in front of him was trying unsuccessfully to pay for his order by phone before dipping into the kid’s camp donation bin under the drive-thru window.

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“Basically after trying and trying with his phone and it not working he just started digging into the bin,” the witness said.

“I could see with my own eyes. The camera doesn’t pick it up as much. I could see the coins in his fingers and then he passes them to the girl at the window.”

The witness said the employee ended up putting the money back into the donation bin.

“It looked like she took it from his hands and then I think somebody else might have said, ‘Hey, he took it from the bin,’ because then she … actually puts the money back into the bin. It looks like he starts arguing with her,” the witness said.

The witness said by the time he pulled up to the drive-thru window the workers seemed rattled.

The dash cam footage shows someone reaching out of the car and into something under the drive-thru window. The driver appears to place something from under the drive-thru window in his other hand before placing it on the counter.

A representative of the Tim Hortons location would not comment on the incident saying he could only release information to the RCMP.

However, he did confirm the restaurant is looking into the incident “to see what happened.”

When asked if the fast food location had reported the incident to police the spokesperson would only say “there is something ongoing.”

Kelowna RCMP have yet to respond to a request for comment.