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WTF(Weird Trivia & Facts)  Tuesday, August 28, 2007 12:08 PM CDT
Wedding crasher steals cash at reception
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GARDEN GROVE, Calif. -- Anthony and Jennifer Smith left for their Florida honeymoon earlier this month thinking they'd have plenty of cash gifts to tally up after their trip.

But when the newlyweds returned, some bad news was waiting: Most of their wedding money was stolen by an envelope-snatching thief who crashed their reception without anybody noticing.

"You never think it's going to happen, you know, to you," Anthony Smith said Tuesday on ABC's "Good Morning America." "You're celebrating, having a good time, and then you go on your honeymoon and you find out some guy just decides he needs to take everything."

The well-dressed man is believed to have made off with as much as $1,500 in cash gifts, police said.

He was recorded on a surveillance tape approaching a box containing gift envelopes at the Smiths' Aug. 17 wedding reception. He first approached the box with an envelope of his own, but rather than put it in, he walked away. Then he returned and grabbed the box's envelopes.

"He just went straight for the money," Jennifer Smith said.

The thief even knew to wear a blue and burgundy outfit - just like the clothes worn by members of the wedding party, she said.

"Maybe he found out from a guest?" she said. "We're not exactly sure."

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Reader comments on this story - 6 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Foolish wrote on Aug 30, 2007 3:53 PM:

" I didn't mean that cash gifts were tacky. I meant that putting out a box at your reception for people to put money in is tacky. I know it's "common", but gifts shouldn't be brought to a reception. "

to to foolish wrote on Aug 29, 2007 9:00 AM:

" no its buring in the yard in a coffee can like on vegas vacation "

To Foolish wrote on Aug 28, 2007 7:37 PM:

" Cash as a wedding gift is not tacky . . . Oh wait sorry you must be from a much older generation. Still have money tucked under your mattress? "

Foolish wrote on Aug 28, 2007 4:30 PM:

" It's foolish to leave a box of cash laying around ANYWHERE. If you're going to troll for cash as wedding gifts (TACKY) , you should have someone responsible for watching it. "

my experience wrote on Aug 28, 2007 3:32 PM:

" A coupls yrs ago (in Blm) a female crashed the weddng reception I was at and stole a few purses. Thankfully she didn't get mine. Ironically, a year later, a friend (female) of the bride & groom stole the groom. "

Geeze~~~ wrote on Aug 28, 2007 1:27 PM:

" How low can you go? Bummer. "

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