Thief gets 20 years in heist of restaurant

Too many small mistakes spelled capture and conviction for a former head waiter at the Salt Rock Grill who stole $40,000 from the beach restaurant.

By CHRIS TISCH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 23, 2002

INDIAN SHORES -- The former head waiter at the Salt Rock Grill has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after a jury convicted him of stealing $40,000 in cash and jewelry from the restaurant.

A jury took just under three hours to convict Russell C. Bowers, 32, of burglary and grand theft. Circuit Judge Philip Federico sentenced Bowers, who has four previous felonies in his criminal history, to the maximum possible sentence Wednesday.

The sentence puts an end to a crime tale replete with a failed alibi, a trip to the Florida Keys and some missing loot.

Bowers was charged with pulling off a sophisticated heist in which he wheeled the restaurant's 150-pound safe out of the business after a busy Mother's Day shift last year. Prosecutors said Bowers hid in a liquor storage area after his shift, then waited for employees to leave before springing the burglary.

About $30,700 in cash in the safe and another $9,100 in jewelry from a display case was taken.

Investigators, noting no signs of forced entry, suspected the burglary was an inside job. Bowers, who called in sick for two days after the heist, was high on a short list of suspects.

Bowers came to work on the third day and looked nervous, authorities say. An extensive background check showed he had previous criminal charges for property crimes in Michigan.

But there was no evidence to arrest him. But days later, an effort Bowers made to cover his tracks came back to haunt him.

Just hours after the crime, Bowers drove to Miami and offered Joe Boyer -- a friend and former Salt Rock employee -- $2,500 to provide an alibi for that morning. Bowers told Boyer what he had done in some detail, said prosecutor Frank Piazza.

But Boyer called Salt Rock owner Frank Chivas and told him what he knew. Chivas fired Bowers, who had worked for him for about a year and a half, and told investigators Bowers was their man.

Boyer told investigators that Bowers had wheeled the safe out of the restaurant on an office chair, then buried it under the restaurant's deck. Investigators found a patch of dirt that looked recently disturbed and unearthed the safe a foot deep in the ground. They found the office chair in the water.

Investigators had Boyer call Bowers during a recorded phone call, and Bowers made some incriminating statements about the crime.

Boyer became the state's star witness against Bowers, who was arrested on June 6, 2001. But other evidence also began to stack up against Bowers.

The burglar had tried to make it look as if the safe had been forced open by breaking off the handle and dial. But investigators determined it was misdirection: The thief actually knew the combination.

A manager told authorities of catching Bowers peeking at the safe's dial while it was being opened.

A manager also said he had overheard Bowers saying on the previous Mother's Day that, with all the money in the safe after such a busy shift, it would be easy for an employee to take the safe.

Prosecutors figured they had a strong case.

So did Robert Carreiro, Bowers' attorney.

The state was offering Bowers a 17-month prison sentence in exchange for a guilty plea. A plea also would require him to pay nearly $40,000 in restitution and court costs, or to return the cash and jewelry.

Carreiro thought Bowers should take the deal. Bowers demanded a trial.

"I told him of the dangers of going to jury trial, and I told him what the problems were with his case," Carreiro said Thursday. "The problem was we had the person who had informed Frank Chivas, and I told my client this. It's a little difficult when the safe shows up where he said it is."

The trial lasted two days. Bowers' mother and sister sat in the audience. Carreiro argued that Bowers could not have known the safe's combination. He also argued that Bowers did not have a key to get into the restaurant.

The jury didn't buy it.

Carreiro was surprised at the sentence.

"Twenty years, that's a lot of a man's life for the money involved," Carreiro said. "I think it was a little heavy."

As part of his sentence, Bowers also was ordered to pay nearly $40,000 in restitution to the Salt Rock. That amount includes about $4,000 in tips that the wait staff earned that Mother's Day.

"I feel a little sorry for the guy," Chivas said Thursday. "I feel sorry for his mother and his family."

So where is the cash and the jewelry?

Chivas thinks Bowers might have blown it on a trip he took to the Florida Keys after the heist.

But prosecutors aren't so sure.

Piazza, the prosecutor, gave the following account:

A female friend of Bowers' said she accompanied him on that trip. He paid cash for almost everything, including renting scuba gear.

At some point, Bowers pulled over near a body of water, put on the gear and jumped in. He asked the woman to take pictures of him while he was in the water. He then dove in, went under and came out.

The entire episode lasted about two minutes. Bowers stripped off the gear and never dived again before returning it. He took the photos, which no one has seen since. He has said nothing about where the money and jewels might be. The woman he was with that weekend doesn't remember where Bowers dived.

Could the loot be sunk in the Keys?

"What he put down there, he said nothing," Piazza said. "I don't know if it's there or not. But I find it suspicious that he went through all that for a two-minute dive."

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