UPDATE @ 2:40 p.m. (June 24)
A business owner's plea to a thief seems to have paid off after a stolen donation jar was returned to the Beverage Depot, 706 S. Burnett Road.
Owner Mike Brooks tells us the person who took the donation jar returned it to the store today and apologized.
EARLIER (June 23)
Brooks on Friday addressed the suspected thief through our news story Friday, imploring the male to come back, return the jar and “we can get this all straightened out.”
A business owner said his “heart sunk” when he found out a teen swiped a donation jar full of money.
The Beverage Depot, 706 S. Burnett Road in Springfield, participated in a fundraiser to benefit research for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Mike Brooks said around 6:30 p.m. Thursday a teenage boy who appeared to be about 15 took the bucket containing $85.
“He walked in and next thing you know he grabbed it and ran out with it,” Brooks said.
Now, he hopes someone will be able to recognize the culprit. Brooks said he filed a report with the Springfield Police Division and posted information and surveillance video on social media about the theft.
“Whether he gets caught by the police or Facebook nation, he will be caught,” Brooks said.
To the teen thief, Brooks has this to say: “Young man, I know you’re suffering right now from drugs or something else to begin with, but if you could find it in your heart to do the right thing and come back and talk to me, even if you don’t have the money come back and we can get this all straightened out.”