SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A man was arrested right outside of the coffee shop police say he stole a donation jar from a few weeks ago.
The money inside of the jar that was stolen was supposed to go toward medical bills for 24-year-old Alexis Livingston, a Regent University grad who got in a crash over spring break and suffered a severe brain injury.
23-year-old Raquwon Faulk was arrested over the weekend and charged with breaking and entering other structure with intent to commit larceny, petit larceny, and destruction of property.
“Not only did I give them a tip, I gave them the guy,” said owner Marie DePedro.
She had surveillance video from the night of October 9 and was able to ID the alleged thief after thorough detective work herself. She says Faulk worked right next door.
“I looked through weeks of footage. Now that I’m familiar with how he moves, how he walks, how he behaves, I can now compare that behavior with one of our patrons,” DePedro said. “He used to come here every day too, and three times a day,” she said.
She went to police and continued to push for justice. The day Faulk was arrested, she says police were actually inside of her coffee shop looking over surveillance video. As police ran next door to arrest him, DePedro ran to the window to watch it all go down.
“It was the best day of my life it was so rewarding great experience and great feeling see him getting arrested I feel like mission completed,” DePedro said.
DePedro says they had a fundraiser for Livingston last weekend at the other coffee shop she owns in Virginia Beach. She also says she’s hoping to get the $1,000 reward for tipping officers off to Faulk. She said she would then donate that money to Livingston’s family.
Faulk is currently being held at Western Tidewater Regional Jail without bond.
