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Pasco sheriff: Cafe owner fed customers by stealing $900 worth of bacon from Sam's Club

 
Hudson Cafe Owner Theodore Rellias was arrested by Pasco County sheriff's deputies on Feb. 27 after they said he stole nearly $900 worth of bacon from Nov. 2017 to Jan. 2018 from a New Port Richey Sam's Club. [Pasco County Sheriff's Office]
Hudson Cafe Owner Theodore Rellias was arrested by Pasco County sheriff's deputies on Feb. 27 after they said he stole nearly $900 worth of bacon from Nov. 2017 to Jan. 2018 from a New Port Richey Sam's Club. [Pasco County Sheriff's Office]
Published March 2, 2018

NEW PORT RICHEY — A restaurant owner is accused of stealing nearly $900 worth of bacon from a Sam's Club in New Port Richey.

Pasco County sheriff's deputies believe Theodore Rellias served up the stolen pork to his customers at the Oaks Cafe in Hudson, according to an arrest report.

Now Rellias, 62, is facing a felony charge of scheming to defraud, according to the Sheriff's Office.

FROM THE VAULT: Why crooks steal large volumes of weird stuff in Florida.

Investigators say that loss prevention employees at the Sam's Club at 4330 U.S. 19 became suspicious of Rellias for reasons not specified in his arrest report.

They began to review months of video. It revealed 12 separate occasions in which Rellias visited the store, hid bacon beneath his shopping cart from November 16 and January 13 and failed to pay for it when checking out, according to the report. The bacon had a total value of $860.

When arrested by a Pasco sheriff's detective, the report says Rellias denied buying bacon and then claimed the store's scanner was broken.

He was released on $5,000 bail from the Pasco County jail a few hours after he was book on Tuesday.