Have you ever wanted to pull off the perfect heist, something that would make Steven Soderbergh green with envy? We’ve all dreamed of it, but someone in Orlando actually managed to pull it off: Stealing between $10,000 and $20,000 from a Disney restaurant in the dead of night, then disappearing into the water never to be seen again.
The thief reportedly swam underwater to Paddlefish Restaurant in Disney Springs with the help of scuba gear, which also disguised his identity as he spray painted the restaurant’s security cameras according to WFTV 9. He then ditched the gear, walked into the manager’s office, and tied up the two workers who were counting the day’s cash. He grabbed the haul, suited back up in his scuba gear, and made off into the water — all inside of two minutes. Danny Ocean, eat your heart out, there’s a new Night Fox pulling jobs down in Orlando.
The thief seems well-informed
The two employees managed to untie themselves and call 911 to report the theft, both apparently uninjured — this scuba heist seems to be the work of a gentleman thief, one with enough info to know when the money would be counted. Paddlefish closes at 11 p.m. every day, and the theft occurred just after midnight, meaning the thief knew how long it would take the rest of the crew to close up the restaurant before leaving just the two workers to count cash. Did he spend days in that water, watching to see when the lights went off in the manager’s office? How much planning went into this heist?
The thief was reportedly unarmed, or at least never showed any kind of weapon to the workers counting the day’s money. He just had a plan, the gear to carry it out, and no intent to harm anyone involved. If that’s not the perfect heist — the perfect crime — then I don’t know what is. Hitting a Disney spot just seems like a bonus.
