Wedding crasher steals couple’s gift box with tens of thousands of dollars inside

GLENDALE, Calif. (KCAL/KCBS) - A California couple’s wedding night turned from celebration to heartbreak over the weekend.

Their gift box, filled with tens of thousands of dollars from guests, was stolen right off the table.

The heist was captured on security video.

It started as a night full of love, laughter and dancing for newlyweds Nadeen and George Farahat.

“It was a beautiful party. It was the best night of our lives,” George Farahat described.

But as the party was winding down around midnight on Saturday inside the Renaissance event venue in Glendale, it took a turn no couple ever expected

Security video shows a man that the couple doesn’t recognize taking off with their gift box stuffed with tens of thousands of dollars in checks and cash.

George Farahat estimated there could have been up to $100,000 in the box.

“We did have a lock for the box. The box was secured,” Nadeen Farahat added.

The couple said the man walked around and even held the doors open for guests.

Another security video angle shows what appears to be the man jumping into a getaway car that was waiting in the alley out back.

“He grabbed the box. The getaway car opened the front door for him. He ran in and closed the door, and they drove off,” George Farahat said.

The bride and groom believe the suspected thief was able to walk right in through the front doors of their venue. He was seen chatting with guests and the bartender for about two hours before he made off with that box of cash.

The newlyweds think he might have done this before.

“He was dressed in black. He had an earpiece communicating with someone,” the couple’s friend, Jerry Haddad, explained.

Haddad was one of 300 guests at the wedding. They even paid for a private security guard.

“It’s extremely frustrating. We all feel collectively violated by what happened,” Haddad said.

The venue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

George Farahat says it is about more than just the money.

“Really, it’s just an invasion of privacy. People write special notes, thank yous, congratulations, and that’s been taken from us as well,” the groom said.

For the bride, the tears on her wedding night were not the ones she imagined, but the two say they hope that the man who stole from them will be caught.

“We don’t want anyone to ever go through this. It’s upsetting and it’s heartbreaking,” Nadeen Farahat said.

Glendale police say they are investigating the heist as grand theft.