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Caught on camera; Kent Co. volunteer's phone stolen while working during the holidays

An unidentified woman came into the Wyoming food pantry for some assistance, and the volunteer says video shows her taking his phone.

WYOMING, Mich. — Wyoming Police are looking for a woman who stole a volunteer's phone at a local food pantry. The incident was caught on camera by surveillance video. 

Because the police have not identified a suspect or charged anyone with a crime, 13 ON YOUR SIDE is blurring the woman's face. 

"A woman came in about 10 minutes to 1 p.m. and was just looking for some help with some supplies," Mark Nitzel, a volunteer at Family Network of Wyoming, says.

It happened just a few days before Christmas, on Dec. 21, 2022. An unidentified woman into the food pantry for some assistance.

"As soon as we stepped away from where we were sitting, she went over and took the phone off the director's desk, which happened to be mine," Nitzel says. 

In the surveillance video, the woman is seen grabbing a cell phone from by the flowers and held it in her lap when she sits back down.

Nitzel says the experience is not keeping him from his work at the food pantry.

"It's a wonderful feeling to service other people, which is why I do it," he says. 

The woman was looking for personal care items for seniors and toys for her kids, since she said she just moved from Florida. Nitzel didn't take her information down since they typically only do that for people in need of food.

"We were able to do some other things (for her) that we typically don't," he says. 

To Nitzel, it's just a phone and it's already been replaced. But he says it's affected the other volunteers, and the whole thing still leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

"It's hurtful to some because you're really going out of your way to help her out. And then she turns around, as soon as your back turned, and takes advantage of you," he says. 

It took a few weeks to get the surveillance video, and Nitzel's wife Barbara has taken to social media this week to get some help in identifying the woman.

"It's been just an outreach of support and kindness and sharing the the story all over. And that's wonderful," she says. 

Wyoming Police are still investigating the case. 

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