An alleged jewelry thief in The Villages is also suspected of having sticky fingers at the Sonic drive-in restaurant where he was employed.
Garry Eugene Joseph Restifo, 59, who lives with his parents in the Village of Virginia Trace, was transferred April 20 from the Sumter County Detention Center to the Marion County Jail. He had been lodged in the jail at Bushnell since March 2 after he was arrested in connection with the alleged theft of jewelry from a 74-year-old woman in the Village of Alhambra.
Restifo, a native of Cleveland who has 13 theft convictions in Ohio, is also facing charges of defrauding a pawn broker in Marion County, where he allegedly pawned the woman’s jewelry.
In addition, he is facing a charge of theft at Sonic in Summerfield, where he had been employed.
The Sonic manager said Restifo had worked for him for about a month, but stopped coming to work in late February. Restifo’s absence prompted the manager to examine surveillance footage which showed Resitfo placing an apron over a table where money was located. Restifo picked up the apron and in the process, picked up the $50 in bills that had been on a table near a cash box. A warrant was later issued for his arrest on a charge of theft.
He is due May 24 in Marion County Court to answer to the charges of theft and defrauding a pawn broker.