Exclusive: Hauppauge restaurant says envelope full of donations for man's funeral was taken by DoorDash driver
Employees at Patrizia's of Hauppauge say they were hosting a memorial for Michael Bittleman when a DoorDash delivery driver walked into the front door, picked up a food order and walked out with the envelope that was on the counter next to the order.
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An envelope filled with donations to pay for a beloved customer's funeral was allegedly stolen Tuesday from a Suffolk County restaurant.
Employees at Patrizia's of Hauppauge say they were hosting a memorial for Michael Bittleman when a DoorDash delivery driver walked into the front door, picked up a food order and walked out with the envelope that was on the counter next to the order.
Bittleman, of East Northport, was killed in a car crash last week.
Employees say the envelope was full of donations to help Bittleman's family. They say surveillance video shows the driver stop, turn back and then take the envelope.
"It's unbelievable that somebody would even think of doing something like that in such a horrible time like this," says Deborah Rozea, a friend of Bittleman.
Workers at the restaurant say more than 500 people came to the memorial in Bittleman's honor and many of them gave donations to help his family with funeral costs. They say some of that money was in the envelope that they say the DoorDash driver picked up.
Bittleman's family gave the restaurant two of his hats to keep on display as a reminder of his special impact.
"Very special to all of us, very special person, that's why we held it here with a lot of people and we all chipped in, everybody chipped in," said Amy Brower, a bartender at the restaurant.
Employees at Patrizia's say they reported what they saw on their surveillance video to the police.
Suffolk County police say the incident is under investigation.
News 12 reached out to DoorDash and are waiting to hear back.
