Dore Wright said her friend, Courtney Parks, went through the drive-thru at the Steak ‘n Shake in Concord, North Carolina, and handed the cashier her debit card to pay for their meal.
The next day, Wright said Parks saw $600 in unauthorized charges on her account.
The person who stole Park's debit information spent money at clothing stores and paid money to Duke Energy and Allstate, Wright said.
Wright believes the thief used Parks’ card to pay a power bill and insurance and said the restaurant cashier was the last person to use Parks’ card.
Wright said she and Parks ran that person’s name by the businesses that had the unauthorized charges and they confirmed it was her.
They went back to Steak ‘n Shake to confront the employee and recorded it on video.
“That was my child’s day care money,” Parks told the employee. “That was my car payment. My kid's day care check bounced because you stole all my bill money.”
The employee appears to confess in a video that Wright shot.
“I’m so sorry about that," the employee said. “I’m sorry about that. I’m willing to pay you all the money back.”
Then the conversation gets even more heated.
“Did you really think what you did was clever enough that you didn't think that your name was going to get?” Wright said.
“No. No ma’am,” the employee said. “I knew this was going to happen. I'm sorry.”
“You knew?” another one of Parks’ friends said in the video. “So, you just wanted to get in trouble?”
“I don't want to be in trouble,” the worker said.
“There (are) so many things you can do to get help besides taken from other people who work hard for their money, and Courtney works very hard for her money,” Wright said.
Parks filed a police report. No one has been charged in this case.
Steak ‘n Shake had not responded when contacted to find out if it aware of the situation, whether that the employee still works there and for a response.
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