INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A restaurant employee was jailed Tuesday after deputies said she collected nearly $7,000 in tips she sent to herself from orders made through food delivery apps. The Hurricane Grill & Wings waitress used a tab in the eatery’s computer system to add tips from Uber Eats and DoorDash orders.
“The issue was that there was nobody leaving tips,” Indian River County sheriff’s officials said in the arrest report. “After inputting a tip through that tab, the system would make it appear as if the restaurant owed the server tip money for those orders at the end of the shift, following the accumulation of the rest of the server’s tips.”
Angelica Carbone
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY INDIAN RIVER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Angelica Carbone, 42, of Fort Pierce, was charged with grand theft and scheme to defraud. Carbone was released Wednesday from the Indian River County Jail on $10,000 bond.
Tips made from food delivery services – such as Uber Eats – go to the drivers, not restaurant servers.
“One hundred percent of tips go directly to your delivery person,” according to UberEats.com.
The incidents – involving 1,434 orders made between Uber Eats and DoorDash – occurred between Jan. 1 to May 21, reports show. Deputies said Carbone collected $6,946.16 in tips made from the two food delivery apps.
Deputies responded to reports of the theft Monday at Hurricane Grill & Wings on 15th Place. The beach-themed restaurant is known for its spicy wings.
Deputies spoke with the owner, who said a manager came to her regarding an abnormality in the amount of tip money Carbone was taking home following her shifts. The owner reviewed the restaurant’s records and discovered Carbone was adding fake tips for herself through orders made on the food delivery apps, deputies said.
“Carbone handled or worked many of those orders,” deputies said. “A majority of the DoorDash and Uber Eats orders handled by Carbone also had tips added to the check for the server. (The restaurant owner) advised that would not be possible due to the fact that the customer places an order through each respective app or website, and servers do not receive tips on those orders.”
Carbone told deputies that other servers were also adding tips to Uber Eats and DoorDash orders because it’s an easy way for them to make money when business is slow, reports show. “I mean I’m not innocent, and nor is anybody else,” Carbone said to deputies.
Deputies reviewed records and could not find any other server who claimed tips on the food delivery apps since Jan. 1, reports show.
Deputies arrested Carbone and booked her into the county jail. Carbone has an arraignment at 8:45 a.m. July 6, and was ordered not to return to Hurricane Grill & Wings, court records show.