The arugula salad might have been the first clue. Why would anyone order a basic salad at Avocado Grill, the West Palm Beach hot-spot restaurant known for its eclectic plates?
But it was a salad that set off a chain of events leading to the arrests of three South Florida women by West Palm Beach police on charges that include fraud, impersonation, grand theft and forgery.
The case reads like a mystery series one might catch on Acorn TV. A police detective poses as a restaurant owner. A restaurant owner plays investigator. A police sting hits the al fresco patio. Puns ensue.
It started on the afternoon of Sept. 22, when one diner complained that a “rock” in her arugula salad caused her a severe tooth injury.
That customer, identified as 45-year-old Ann Sherry Miller of Aventura, covered her mouth with a napkin and winced in pain when restaurant manager Daniel Van Tonder approached her table, according to a police report.
Her dining companions showed the manager a small rock at the edge of the salad. Police believe one of them, identified as 36-year-old Sheila Angelina Miller of Hollywood, helped stage an attempted scam that day.