Behind the Badge
Update: Tustin Police have arrested a woman suspected of stealing a tip jar containing $42 from a Mexican restaurant along with threatening an employee.
Antoniette “Toni” Marlena Pagan, 38, was arrested by Long Beach PD for an unknown reason, TPD Det. Eric Haug said, and once Pagan was booked in L.A. County Jail, she was served with the TPD arrest warrant.
Pagan has been charged with second-degree robbery, a felony, according to Orange County court records. She already is on formal probation in Riverside County and had an outstanding warrant for drug offenses.
The theft of the tip jar took place about 10 p.m. April 13 at the Taco Factory on Newport Avenue after Pagan ordered takeout food along with two male companions. TPD named Pagan as the suspect on April 26.
After the theft, employees at the Black Marlin restaurant on El Camino Real in Tustin donated their tips to Taco Factory employees, Haug said.
Pagan works in the medical profession in an unknown capacity. She has recent past residential addresses in Cerritos, Hemet, Corona and Long Beach.
Antoniette “Toni” Marlena Pagan. Photo courtesy of Tustin PD
The original story, posted April 19, follows:
Tustin Police are looking for a woman who stole a tip jar containing about $42 at the Taco Factory restaurant after she ordered takeout food with two male companions.
The theft occurred Friday, April 13, at about 10 p.m. at the restaurant, at 14455 Newport Ave., the TPD said in an April 19 news release.
After ordering and receiving their food, the woman’s two male companions left the restaurant and got into their car, described as a gold or brown Mercedes Benz sedan.
The female suspect remained in the restaurant for a short time then grabbed the tip jar and got into the car, which then left.
At the time of the crime, the female suspect was wearing a blue flower top that is similar to a medical scrub.
