SALT LAKE CITY — Two women caught on surveillance video stealing donation jars from Salt Lake businesses have been identified and one of them is now facing felony theft charges.
Kara Howells, 23, is accused of taking a donation jar off the counter of Tonyburgers on 400 South March 17, concealing it under her clothes and then leaving the restaurant, a charging document states.
A separate charging document also accuses Howells of stealing a tip jar March 23 from a downtown Beans & Brews location.
In both cases, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said Howells was charged with a third-degree felony theft.
“For us to enhance, we have to have prior convictions. In this case, we do,” Gill said. “And the fact that she was actually willing to rip off people especially for charitable purposes kind of made that into an aggravated situation.”
Each charging document cites a prior conviction of forgery as a qualifying offense for enhanced penalties. In both cases, prosecutors said, Howells had gone to the businesses with 26-year-old McCall Howells.
At Beans & Brews, the charging document said surveillance video showed the two women appearing to look at menus before the thefts.
At Tonyburgers, surveillance video showed the woman identified as McCall Howells talking to an employee on duty, resulting in the worker going to the back of the restaurant.
“These girls had come in and asked for a Band-Aid, and when the person at the register went to go grab it, they had taken the jar,” said Laura Carver, who had been raising money for a humanitarian trip to Nicaragua.
Gill said Thursday prosecutors were still screening potential charges against McCall Howells.
Carver expressed mixed emotions that the women had been identified and that charges had been filed against one of them.
“I was kind of relieved, but then I felt kind of bad for feeling relieved,” the teen said. “I feel when you’re older, you’ve learned more and you should be more experienced and responsible for yourself, but I guess they haven’t really learned that.”
Carver said after the heist her father helped her create a GoFundMe page to replace the money that was stolen. As of Friday morning, 48 people had offered up a combined $1,320 toward a goal of $3,000. The money is to help Carver go on a humanitarian trip to Nicaragua scheduled for July.
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