Kory
Member
TAMPA - Larry J. Musall went to the Bennigan's in Brandon on Wednesday to change the locks on the store, one of several in the Tampa Bay area that recently shut down because of financial troubles.
Musall, an owner of Brandon Lock and Key, said he, too, had money matters on his mind.
Bitter that the company still owed him $800 and worried that he would not get his money, the locksmith came up with another way to get paid.
He took $1,500 worth of liquor and meat from the restaurant's stock.
"It wasn't until I got there that I was like, 'Hell with it. This is going to go to waste so I'll take my payment,'" Musall, 40, of Port Charlotte said today. "I feel real bad about it."
He said "bad judgment" got the better of him.
Russ Haynes, a former employee of the restaurant at 2210 Brandon Blvd., said he just happened to drive by the store Wednesday when he noticed two white vans parked in the back.
"I knew people shouldn't be there," Haynes said.
When Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies were called, Musall told them that he and his employee, William Pinkleton, were there to change the locks, according to a sheriff's office offense report.
Musall said he was in contact with the restaurant's manager before he "left the scene in a hurry" in one of the vans, the report states.
Pinkleton was left behind, deputies said.
When Johnathon Dorfman, the manager of the Bennigan's, arrived, he and Haynes checked the restaurant's stock and found that four cases of liquor, ribs and chicken were missing, the report states.
"I was thinking someone just broke in," Dorfman said today. "We weren't informed that anyone was going to change keys. We were just waiting for a phone call from someone so they could take the food and liquor because it's just sitting there getting rotten."
Deputies called Musall and asked him to come back to the restaurant. He did, and returned the liquor and meat.
Dorfman did not press charges against Musall or Pinkelton, who said he was just there to change the locks and did not know what was going on, the report states. Musall might have faced charges of grand theft had Dorfman pursued the case.
Musall and Pinkleton do not have criminal records in either Hillsborough or Charlotte counties, records show.
"Our old company owes him money, but that doesn't give him the right to steal," Dorfman said.
"We were left high and dry ourselves," he added about the restaurant chain closing and its parent company filing for bankruptcy. "A lot of people were devastated by this."
The company had about 1,000 employees in the Bay area who were out of work Tuesday. The only location in the area that remains open is the Bennigan's at Channelside Bay Plaza in Tampa, an independently owned franchise.
Musall said he is not the kind of person who steals and that he is "very humiliated" about the incident.
"I wasn't tempted," he said about taking the liquor and meat. "I was bitter. We are all human. We all make mistakes, and I'm sorry."
Musall, an owner of Brandon Lock and Key, said he, too, had money matters on his mind.
Bitter that the company still owed him $800 and worried that he would not get his money, the locksmith came up with another way to get paid.
He took $1,500 worth of liquor and meat from the restaurant's stock.
"It wasn't until I got there that I was like, 'Hell with it. This is going to go to waste so I'll take my payment,'" Musall, 40, of Port Charlotte said today. "I feel real bad about it."
He said "bad judgment" got the better of him.
Russ Haynes, a former employee of the restaurant at 2210 Brandon Blvd., said he just happened to drive by the store Wednesday when he noticed two white vans parked in the back.
"I knew people shouldn't be there," Haynes said.
When Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies were called, Musall told them that he and his employee, William Pinkleton, were there to change the locks, according to a sheriff's office offense report.
Musall said he was in contact with the restaurant's manager before he "left the scene in a hurry" in one of the vans, the report states.
Pinkleton was left behind, deputies said.
When Johnathon Dorfman, the manager of the Bennigan's, arrived, he and Haynes checked the restaurant's stock and found that four cases of liquor, ribs and chicken were missing, the report states.
"I was thinking someone just broke in," Dorfman said today. "We weren't informed that anyone was going to change keys. We were just waiting for a phone call from someone so they could take the food and liquor because it's just sitting there getting rotten."
Deputies called Musall and asked him to come back to the restaurant. He did, and returned the liquor and meat.
Dorfman did not press charges against Musall or Pinkelton, who said he was just there to change the locks and did not know what was going on, the report states. Musall might have faced charges of grand theft had Dorfman pursued the case.
Musall and Pinkleton do not have criminal records in either Hillsborough or Charlotte counties, records show.
"Our old company owes him money, but that doesn't give him the right to steal," Dorfman said.
"We were left high and dry ourselves," he added about the restaurant chain closing and its parent company filing for bankruptcy. "A lot of people were devastated by this."
The company had about 1,000 employees in the Bay area who were out of work Tuesday. The only location in the area that remains open is the Bennigan's at Channelside Bay Plaza in Tampa, an independently owned franchise.
Musall said he is not the kind of person who steals and that he is "very humiliated" about the incident.
"I wasn't tempted," he said about taking the liquor and meat. "I was bitter. We are all human. We all make mistakes, and I'm sorry."
