Stolen tip cups, gas, cars: Cops catch L.I. lovers, ending alleged Nassau County crime spree

He walked in and waited to order. But he didn't like the price, says Wendy, who worked the counter that evening at Gloria's Restaurant & Bakery on Post Avenue in Westbury, Long Island. So he ordered something else and handed her a credit card.

Declined.

Gloria's Restaurant & Bakery on Post Ave, Westbury. A container with the day's tips--about $70--was swiped off the counter Feb. 11, 2024.Photo byC.J. Teevan

Wait! he said, and quickly left. He came back with another credit card and placed a smaller order, she recalls -- total: around $10.

That card, too, did not go through.

"Then I knew something was up," Wendy says.

Customers watched the young man in the cafe. He put his hands in his pockets, says Wendy, and stared at her. Customers began to signal: Be careful, they warned, motioning -- maybe a weapon in his pocket, she says.

No one said a word.

The jar of tips was on the counter in front of her, stuffed with money.

Suddenly, says Wendy, he grabbed it and ran.

The tip cup at a Great Neck restaurant on S. Middle Neck Rd., Nohara Ramen, with about $100, was stolen on Feb. 11, 2024.Photo byC.J. Teevan

Two customers jumped up to chase him. But he was quick. A getaway car was right outside the door. Wendy says a young female was also in the car.

Police say the tip cup thief was Vincent Fredricks, 21, suspect in a rash of tip cup thefts and dozens of Misdemeanors and Felonies committed so far this year all over Nassau County. His young female companion has been arrested on shoplifting charges. Fredricks, whose two open cases from last year are supposed to be coming to a close, was arrested for the first time this year just before dawn on Thursday morning, at 4:30am, the latest chapter in an alleged crime wave that's been going on for more than a year.

Vincent Fredricks, accused thief, in his official mug shot.Photo byNassau County Police Mug Shot

Since January, say investigators, Fredricks has allegedly stolen cars, credit cards, a license plate, gas in Baldwin, wallets in Manhasset and Levittown, unpaid food orders and the tips left by customers in Great Neck (at Nohara Ramen and Mr. Poke), Plainview (Pelicana Chicken), Hicksville (Kandahar Grill, Fuel Cafe, Francesco's Bakery, Gyro Restaurant), Jericho (Beyond Bagels), Levittown (Cold Stone Creamery), Bellmore (Shah's Halal), Wantagh (Shah's Halal), Williston Park (Brendo's Heros), Merrick (Red Label Coffee), and Westbury (Ralph's Italian Ices, Gloria's Restaurant).

He's also accused of swiping hundreds of dollars in donations collected by the Crown Chicken restaurant in Hicksville for charity in Afghanistan and "the Muslim community", police said in a court filing.

A customer at Taco Bell in Levittown called police Mar. 3, 2024, at 11:20am, after he put his wallet on the counter and it disappeared.Photo byC.J. Teevan

On February 12, 2024, around 8:12pm, police say an off duty officer spotted Fredrick in Great Neck in a stolen white 2012 Kia Sportage and began to follow Fredrick. As the Kia passed Great Neck Plaza, it fled, say police.

Police say that Fredrick told them later he had permission to drive this Kia. They say Fredrick told them he gave his friend heroin so his friend gave him the keys to the Kia.

But two days later, on February 14, 2024, Fredricks was allegedly seen grabbing tips off the checkout counter at Red Label Coffee on Merrick Road in Merrick. Witnesses told police the thief took off in a white 2015 Kia. Police say that Kia was reported stolen on January 17, 2024, while it was parked in the Wantagh LIRR train station.

Police say they have identified Fredricks as the man who went to Mavis Discount Tires on Sunrise Highway in Wantagh on Monday, February 19, 2024, at 9:22pm, and drove off with a customer's white 2020 Hyundai Elantra.

Pia Califano's official mug shot. Califano has a pending Petit Larceny case.Photo byNassau County Police Mug Shot

But just past midnight, on Friday, February 23, 2024, 3rd Precinct Police said they spotted Fredricks driving one of those stolen Hyundais in Westbury as it headed down Union Street. The Hyundai driver must have spotted them, too -- he crashed the Hyundai into them "in an attempt to flee," police state in a sworn affidavit. Lights and sirens were activated. But the driver "fled at a high rate of speed, effectively evading the patrol unit," say police.

He got away.

Police say Fredricks was driving that stolen Hyundai.

Fredrick is also accused of stealing a customer's wallet, with $150 cash, off the counter at For Five Coffee Roasters in Manhasset.Photo byC.J. Teevan

On Monday, March 4, police say Fredricks was spotted in a stolen black BMW, parked with his female companion in front of Baci Cafe on Old Country Road. Police say they approached him for questioning. In an official statement released Friday, they said the BMW immediately took off, hitting 2 officers as it fled down Old Country Road.

The officers had knee and elbow injuries but were not otherwise seriously injured.

Police say Fredricks's female companion was Pia Califano, 20. She has her own criminal case in progress.

Fredricks was arraigned Friday. He pleaded Not Guilty to a slew of criminal charges. Judge Marie McCormack set his bail at $100,000 cash. That bail has not been posted.

A filled tip cup sits on the counter at Gloria's Restaurant & Bakery in Westbury. The previous one was stolen.Photo byC.J. Teevan