A Michigan server thought she had just finished one of her best shifts ever. Then she looked at her tip cup and felt her heart drop.
A DoorDash driver was caught on surveillance video allegedly stealing $258 in cash tips from Kelly Plozai, a server at Leo’s Coney Island on Eureka Road in Taylor, Michigan, while she was working a 14-hour double shift on Memorial Day.
The theft reportedly happened shortly after 5 p.m., while Plozai was busy packing up two DoorDash pickup orders behind the counter.
Video from the restaurant shows the driver standing at the counter as Plozai turns her back to sort and label the orders. That is when he allegedly reaches over a protective barrier and grabs the cash she had earned during her long holiday shift.
“While I’m doing that, he is reaching over and stealing every bit of money that I made that night,” Plozai told 7 News Detroit.
The worst part? She had no idea it had happened until another customer saw what was going on and immediately told her.
“It was actually horrifying when I saw the empty cup. My heart sank,” Plozai said.
She said she had been proud of the money she made that day because it had been such a strong shift.
“I was actually very proud of myself cause I had a very good shift,” she said. “It was one of my best ever, and I was pretty pumped about it.”
Instead, the cash she worked all day to earn was gone in seconds.
Plozai said she was especially stunned because she was doing her job and trying to help the same man who allegedly stole from her.
“Doing extra things, being nice and going above and beyond over there while I’m packing up his order while he’s actually robbing me behind my back,” she said.
She also said she never imagined someone could even reach that far over the counter.
“So he had to reach all the way over this protective barrier,” Plozai said. “I actually had no idea that someone’s arm could be long enough to reach my money.”
Plozai filed a police report with Taylor police and turned over the surveillance video. According to 7 News Detroit, the detective working the case is using Flock cameras and other security footage to cross-reference vehicles that were at the restaurant at the time of the theft.
DoorDash has since removed the driver’s access to the platform.
“Theft is unacceptable and there is no place for this behavior on our platform,” a DoorDash spokesperson said in a statement. “We have removed the individual’s access to the platform, are fully cooperating with Taylor Police to support their investigation, and will be compensating the restaurant for the loss.”
Plozai said she wants the video seen far and wide, not just because of what happened to her, but because she believes other restaurants should be warned.
“I want his mom to see the video. I want his cousins to see it. I want his friends to see it. And I want everybody to know exactly how he is,” she said.
She added that she wants the driver held accountable.
“I know he’s out there in other restaurants,” Plozai said. “I know this isn’t his first time. You can clearly see in the video this is not the first time this guy has taken something.”
For Plozai, the alleged theft was not just about the money. It was about having a long, exhausting holiday shift end with the kind of betrayal no worker should have to deal with.
