Anita Harris told The North Carolina Beat that an employee of Island Flava Restaurant & Lounge, located on Owen Drive in Fayetteville, North Carolina, allegedly stole $150 from her purse. Harris was celebrating her birthday on the night of the incident when she forgot her purse at the establishment.

Word On The Curb…some broke a** flashlight security guard allegedly robbed the lost and found at Island Flava Restaurant in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The struggling owner is keeping the identity of the employee who refuses to hand over the money a secret.

It seems that the unidentified security guard believed that his boss had left his check in a purse that did not belong to him. Anita Harris told The North Carolina Beat that on December 16, 2023, she and her friends went to Island Flava in Fayetteville to celebrate her birthday. After leaving Island Flava lounge, Harris realized she had forgotten her purse when she got home.

“My phone was still in my purse and my mom tracked it, which tracked back to the restaurant, Harris said.

The next morning, on December 17th, Harris said she drove back to the restaurant and inquired about a lost purse. She said a manager gave her the purse, and when she looked inside, everything was still there except for her $150. When asked about her money, Harris said the manager of Island Flava Restaurant told her that’s how ‘she got it.’

“My phone was still in my purse, Harris said. “Everything was still in my purse except my money, phone…ID… everything, except my money.”

Anita Harris filed a police report regarding her stolen money

Harris said she left the office and drove home. Once there, she called 911 and met an officer at the back of the restaurant. She said the manager she had spoken with earlier had already left, but the officer spoke with another manager named “Maalika”. The officer asked the manager to show him the footage for the investigation.

In the office, Harris also claimed that the video showed a security guard taking money out of her purse. Harris said she knew how much money she had because before arriving at Island Flava, she was at another party where they were throwing money at her in celebration of her birthday.

“People was throwing money on me at Rumors for my birthday and my sister collected it for me, that’s how I knew the exact amount, “Harris said.

According to Harris, the man in the video identified as the head of security by the owner, Orett Crawford, could be seen picking up Harris’s purse. He then walked to a corner with his back turned towards the surveillance cameras, where he allegedly opened her purse, took her money out, and then turned the purse in.

“That is on the camera, Harris said. “And the officer told me to call internal affairs to get a copy of the video because he recorded it on his phone.”

Manager gave police officer a fake name and number of the alleged suspect

The manager provided the police officer with a fake name and phone number for the alleged suspect. Harris said the officer asked the manager if she knew the man on the camera, to which she responded that she did. The officer asked Maalika for the man’s name and number to get his side of the story, according to Harris. But as it turns out, the information provided to the officer was false.

“They called me today and told me that he had to go back up there during his investigation because the name and number provided to him in December was fake,” Harris said.

According to Harris, the officer told her that Maalika is refusing to cooperate and continues to hang up the phone on him every time he calls to ask questions. To conceal the identity of the alleged suspect, Harris claimed that the restaurant was informing people that the security guard no longer worked there, although regular customers of the business say he does.

Island Flava Restaurant & Lounge owner Orett Crawford denies the allegations

The North Carolina Beat reached out to the owner, Orett Crawford, and he denied the allegation. He told us that his security guard found a purse that turned out to belong to Harris. Orett stated that his employee looked inside Harris’s purse for her ID in an attempt to contact her, despite video footage showing the security guard allegedly reaching inside Harris’s purse taking her money and then turning it in.

Harris’s allegation is not the only accusation Orrette faces. Another woman came forward after Harris’s public post about the incident and stated that they also had money stolen from them at Island Flava Restaurant & Lounge. In another comment, a different woman shared that her friend’s wallet was stolen at the restaurant. Months later, it was discovered at a car wash on Skibo Road after a car wash manager called her friend to inform her that they had found the wallet.

In response to the stolen wallet found at the car wash, Orett initially claimed that it was impossible for a wallet to be stolen at his business and later found at a car wash. We explained to him that it was indeed possible. A person can steal a wallet and later discard it out the window further down the road. But he didn’t think that was possible.

We asked Orett if he could provide us with footage of the incident since he was denying the allegation and had direct access to the system. He stated that the footage is only stored for 14 days.

According to a police report obtained by The North Carolina Beat, the Fayetteville Police Department is investigating the alleged larceny.