CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- It is unclear whether the man is an actual chef, but it is clear he wore a chef's uniform when he walked out of Walmart with a grill he did not pay for, according to Chesterfield Police. Police shared the photos hoping someone would identify the man wanted for stealing the grill from the Midlothian Turnpike Walmart on March 23.
"This suspect entered the Walmart on Midlothian Turnpike and backed his vehicle up to the front doors. He then went to the Outdoors-section and carefully selected a 70-inch black Backyard gas/charcoal hybrid grill," police said. "He placed the grill in a cart and exited the building from the lawn and garden side, parking the cart against a fence. Then he retrieved his vehicle from the front doors and drove it around to pick up the grill."
He's wearing chef attire but does that mean he's a chef? Not really, says a former Executive Mansion chef. He says the man seen in Walmart surveillance pictures could be anything from a dishwasher to a line cook, or maybe someone who just bought a chef's coat.
"What chef would steal a grill from Walmart? Our work is done in the kitchen, people,” said Leo Bialkowski, once Executive Mansion chef to former Governor Bob McDonnell.
He says just because the man is wearing chef whites, doesn't mean he's an actual chef. "Chef-wear can be given to an entry-level person at a hotel or restaurant. It's not that he's a chef. He just has the uniform,” said Bialkowski.
Bialkowski believes these pictures will lead to the man being burned by his own brazenness. “In the restaurant community, everyone knows everybody,” he said. “So if he works at a restaurant or hotel, they'll turn him in."
Anyone who is able to identify the man in the photos was asked to call Chesterfield-Colonial Heights Crime Solvers at 804-748-0660.
