An anonymous thief has attempted to make up for years of beer theft by leaving a stack of $20 bills and an apology letter. And the owner of the oft-raided beer fridge has a message for the repentant burglar: Come back and have a beer with us, sometime.
Local CBS affiliate WKRC reports that Dee and Leo Samad have maintained a welcoming backyard for years, replete with a 12-foot-bar that includes a beer tap and a fridge full of beer.
The Kentucky residents left the fridge unlocked so that friends and neighbors could help themselves to a drink and repay the favor on the honor system. But eventually, Leo Samad couldn’t help notice that someone was treating a little too much.
"There for awhile my husband kept saying,'I know I put a case of beer in there and there's only 5 or 6 cans left,'" Dee Samad, 69, told the station. “But what are you going to do? We put locks on it."
Eventually, the couple got tired of using the lock and the occasional thefts continued. But then on Monday, the Samads found a surprise on their back porch: a folded note.
"So I came back and picked it up and it was thick. So I unfolded it and seven $20 bills dropped out," Dee said.
The Cincinnati Enquirer explains that the note explained that the longtime beer thief had recently found religion and wanted to make things right.
"Dear homeowner,” the note read. “Enclosed is a sum of cash that my friends and I owe you and your family to repay you for all of the times we have stolen from your poolside fridge/bar over the past few years."
“I hope you will accept my most sincere apology for trespassing as well as feeling entitled to take what was not mine,” the note continues. “The amount is a rough estimate, and I realize no amount will completely satisfy the anger you may have.”
But Dee said the note left her feeling anything but angry.
“That's the most unbelievable thing I've ever had happen to me," she said.
In fact, she was so moved by the gesture, she said the repentant beer smuggler would be welcome to come back sometime and enjoy a free beer with her and her husband.
"I hope that he sees this on TV and knocks on our door and he would be welcome in our home," she said.