A man who was caught on camera stealing a jar that held donations for a New Jersey mother fighting cancer has been arrested, police announced Sunday.
Daniel F. Santos, 23, of Newark, is accused of taking the box from a bakery in Newark on Ferry Street on June 8, police said. He has been charged with theft. Information about his attorney wasn’t immediately available.
The surveillance video shows a man approach the jar, which was connected to the register with a thin plastic rope. The man uses a lighter to burn the string and take the jar.
Officers went to an undisclosed business where Santos works and arrested him without incident after his boss called authorities, police said. The business owner said he identified his employee as the suspect seen in a surveillance video released by police and distributed by news outlets.
Fernanda Concalvez’s family said they put the jar on the counter two weeks before it was stolen. The store’s manager said it was holding about $200 in cash.
Concalvez told NBC 4 New York by phone it has been “rough” undergoing chemotherapy and radiation after being diagnosed with colon cancer last year.
The 42-year-old used to work as a patient representative at a Pennsylvania hospital, but she has been on unpaid medical leave since she began treatment.
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Concalvez hopes to be well enough to attend a fundraiser on June 26 being held in Newark to recoup the loss and hopefully raise even more money to help her as she battles cancer.
