Hines Ward responds to arrest of server accused of stealing $73,000 from his restaurant

EVANS CITY, Pa. — Only Channel 11 was there when a "Hines Ward Table 86” waitress accused of stealing $73,000 from the restaurant turned herself in.

Evans City Seven Fields regional police arrested Kimberly Cook Thursday morning.

Police said during her time as a server, she pocketed thousands and thousands of dollars by taking cash payments from customers and ringing them up on the register as gift cards.

Hines Ward responded to the incident Thursday with this statement: "It’s an unfortunate situation, but I’m grateful that we were able to catch it before it went any farther. I️ give credit to my restaurant partner, Howard Shiller, for handling this matter swiftly and professionally and for taking measures to ensure that things like this never happen again."

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“We were gaining more gift cards than we sold, so the initial thought is, 'Oh the managers are coding these things wrong,' but a forensic audit revealed something else,” restaurant owner Howard Shiller said.

Kimberly cook had nothing to say, but according to the criminal complaint that Channel 11 obtained, Cook admitted to stealing the cash and told police she has no idea of the amount that she had taken.

According to that restaurant audit, she rung up more than $73,000 in fake sales while she worked there from Aug. 2015 to Oct. 2017.

“When you have all these employees coming to you going, 'I can't believe that happened to you. We love this place; we love working here. We can't believe she did that.' and I said, 'Well, guys it wasn't your fault, but it will be fine',” Shiller said.

Cook is behind bars in Allegheny County on a probation violation stemming from a similar crime from years ago.

The owner of Table 86 says he should get his money back through insurance.

Cox Media Group