Woman caught on video taking donation box for funeral expenses: 'It's disgusting'

Lauren Holter
The suspect captured on video at the restaurant. (Photo: NBC New York)
The suspect captured on video at the restaurant. (Photo: NBC New York)

A family in mourning placed a box for funeral donations at a New York restaurant only to have the box — and all the money inside — taken off the counter. A surveillance video obtained by NBC New York shows a woman taking the box early Wednesday morning while the employee's back is turned.

“We’re going through a hard time and for somebody to come and have no morals or respect it’s disgusting what society is doing,” Edgar Bermeo, one of the grieving family members, told NBC.

The money was supposed to go toward funeral expenses for Bermeo's uncle, Juan, who was a regular at the White Plains, N.Y., restaurant where the donation box was stolen. The family reportedly placed multiple boxes around the area to raise money for funeral services.

“I just can’t accept how people are able to do all these disgusting things,” Ernesto Mozqueda, Juan’s son, told NBC.

Others were also eager to catch the thief, but noted that the grainy surveillance video made it hard to identify her.

"In this day and age, why in most all of these types of surveillance videos, it’s practically impossible to identify the suspect?" one Twitter user wrote.

"Show a close up picture of suspect from camera shot," another said. "That will nail her."

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