Swift action of National Cafe regular leads to thief leaving "with less than he came with!"
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- A thief targeted a popular Milwaukee cafe -- but it didn't go as planned!
The National Cafe is located at the intersection of 9th and National. It's a pretty popular spot!
Thi Cao
"They come here for the experience and the food. A lot of people don't even live in the neighborhood," National Cafe regular Thi Cao said.
When asked what brings them to the restaurant, patrons speak of it as though it were an old friend -- a business that brings life to the area -- not the kind of place you'd expect a thief to target.
"I was sitting over there on the wall and this guy came in pretty much drawing a lot of attention to himself," Cao said.
The National Cafe
Cao was at the cafe Wednesday afternoon, April 29th, when perhaps the world's worst customer walked in.
"He asked to use the house phone to make a couple phone calls. He didn't order anything. He used the bathroom like four times," Cao said.
As it turned out, the man was waiting for the right moment to strike.
"We all kind of had our eyes on him and eventually he just bolted for the door and somebody noticed that he had something with him," The National Cafe employee Arielle Yanasak said.
The man grabbed the restaurant's tip jar, which had more than $100 in it. He then bolted out the door to grab his bicycle. Cell phone video captured what happened next: Cao popped out of his seat and ran the man down.
"He took the bike in one hand, running with the bike, with the tip jar in the other hand -- just running. He wasn't making any ground so he just dumped everything and took off," Cao said.
The man was able to get away, but he lost the tip jar, his backpack and his bicycle in the process.
"He left with less than he came with," The National Cafe owner Nell Benton said.
Cao's actions taught him this lesson: This is a neighborhood where people watch out for one another.
"I knew he took something, so I chased him," Cao said.
Both the bicycle and backpack the man dropped as he fled were turned over to police.
