Olathe barbecue owner spent $7,355 on customer's card left at restaurant: court docs

An Olathe barbecue restaurant owner allegedly racked up $7,355 in charges on a credit card left at the business by a customer.

Newly released court documents outline the case against Matthew R. Sander, owner of the long-time Olathe eating establishment Smokin' Joe's Bar-B-Q.

Sander was charged last week with seven counts of identity theft, six counts of misdemeanor theft, and single counts of felony theft and criminal use of a financial card.

A customer told Olathe police that he had dined at the restaurant on Santa Fe Street on Jan. 28, and the next day he could not find his card.

The last place he had used it was Smokin' Joe's. He called the restaurant and was told by employees they could not find the card. He canceled it the next day.

But when he looked at his credit card statement, he found a number of unauthorized purchases from Jan. 28.

Those included $859 spent at a liquor store; $2,134 at Bed Bath & Beyond; $1,575 at Kohl's; $936 at Academy Sports; $999 at The Home Depot; and $322 at Garozzo's restaurant.

Olathe detectives followed up with the businesses and obtained surveillance video that allowed them to identify Sander, according to the court documents.

During some of the transactions, he was allegedly wearing a sweater with a Smokin' Joe's logo on it.

Police arrested Sander at his Overland Park home on March 10.

He declined to give police a statement.

The case is the third time since December that Sander has been charged in Johnson County with similar crimes.

On March 2, Sander was charged with identity theft, criminal use of a financial card and theft.

Those charges stem from alleged crimes in Overland Park on Jan. 25 and involved a different victim than the one named in Monday's allegations.

In December, he was charged with one count of felony theft involving the alleged theft of merchandise from a Sam's Club store in Overland Park.

Sander was also charged last year with driving while intoxicated, according to Platte County Circuit Court records.

He pleaded guilty in January and was fined $500, according to the court records.

Sander is due back in court April 11 on the new case.

This story was originally published March 21, 2018 at 9:39 AM with the headline "Olathe barbecue owner spent $7,355 on customer's card left at restaurant: court docs."