Tony's Baltimore Grill in Atlantic City has message for thief after stolen furniture returned
"We can only imagine how hard life must be for you to be in a position where you have to do this for money," the restaurant said.
ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey (WPVI) -- The stolen outdoor furniture is back where it belongs at Tony's Baltimore Grill in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
But the story does not end there as the restaurant hopes to help out the thief who stole it.
It all started on June 29 when someone stole a custom-ordered table, an umbrella and six chairs used for outdoor dining from the 95-year-old Jersey Shore eatery on Atlantic Avenue.
Tony's manager Joe Palumbo told Action News at the time that the restaurant just started outdoor seating to give diners a different experience.
He said the employees always bring in the furniture overnight so the theft had to have happened during hours of operation.
"We counted them and we were missing six, and we counted the umbrellas and we're missing an umbrella," said Palumbo. "So it's starting to add up that somebody just took a whole set, for their Fourth of July barbecue maybe."
Instead of filing a police report, Tony's publicized a $1,500 reward and a free pizza every week to get it all back.
"No questions asked. No charges pressed. Here's your furniture back, and we have a handshake and say, 'We appreciate that,'" Palumbo told Action News.
On Monday night, Tony's Baltimore Grill posted an update on Instagram: "The ATLANTIC AVENUE FURNITURE FIASCO update: we got it back!!!!!!"
Two people returned the furniture, and while they were not the ones who stole it, they were able to tell Tony's more about what happened.
The pair said the family who bought the set knew that it was stolen and wanted to return it, but they were afraid that charges would be pressed.
The people who returned the furniture will split the reward, and instead of pizza, the restaurant offered them each a meal a week for the rest of their lives.
Tony's painted part of the table red to "remember its journey back home and that good things happen every day."
As for the thief, the restaurant says it knows the name of the person who stole the furniture. And if that person comes in to say sorry, the manager will accept the apology and buy that person dinner too.
"We can only imagine how hard life must be for you to be in a position where you have to do this for money. If you come by the joint and say sorry, we will accept your apology and buy you dinner. Until then, we will say our prayers that you have brighter days ahead," the post read.
