ALTON - Four suspects made off with the tip jar and cash from two Cookie Factory locations around 6 p.m. Sunday at Alton Square Mall in Alton. The week of Valentine's Day is the busiest of the year for the Cookie Factory, so the jars were filled with cash and coins.
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In one of the locations, the cookie jar was stolen and cash was taken out of the jar at the other location.
Cookie Factory owner Linda McCormick said she was uncertain of the exact amount in the jars, but she said she has returned $100 of her own cash to the jars. She speculates there could have been even more than $100 in the jars, but said there is no way to tell exactly.
"People normally put $1 bills and coins in the tip jars," she said. "I felt really bad for our workers who receive the tips, they are mostly younger people and it makes a difference for them. I also feel sorry for those who did it and their mothers."
McCormick said if those who took the tip jar and cash had returned the cash and jar Monday she would not prosecute, but now she would. She feels young people need to be taught a lesson. She said three of the four suspects in the case have been identified by a video from both locations.
“It upsets me for the young people who work here,” she said. “We don’t want them to live in that kind of society. We want to keep them innocent. I am afraid now they stole the tip jar and cash what happens next? Do they rob something with a gun? I just hope they get who did it and hope the police can teach them a lesson.”
Anyone with any information on the case should contact the Alton Police Department at (618) 463-3505.
