Clearwater, Fla. (970 WFLA) - A woman thought she had benefited from another's forgetfulness, but the expensive ring she found earned her jail time rather than a pay day, Clearwater Police said.
Barbara Beaud, 46, faces a charge of grand theft, accused of taking an engagement ring mistakenly left on a table by a restaurant diner Friday. Police responded to Frenchy's Rockaway Grill on Clearwater Beach at about 3 p.m. after a diner said she accidentally left her $8,500 engagement ring on the table when she left the restaurant.
She had taken the ring off and put it on the table to apply lotion to her hands, and forgot to put it back on. Police say surveillance video from the restaurant showed Beaud dining at a nearby table with her family, noticing the ring and taking it from the table. Instead of turning it in, and left the the restaurant with her family.
It took only an hour after that for officers to find Beaud walking along Mandalay Avenue, according to a news release from Clearwater Police. They arrested her, found the ring, and returned to its "grateful owner," the release said.
Photo of Barbara Beaud courtesy of the Pinellas County Jail.