TOLEDO, Ohio — UPDATE: The felony theft charges against Jeffrey Powloski have been dismissed, according to court documents and information from the Toledo Municipal Court.
The original story is below:
Raising money for a friend with cancer is something many of us have done. But one woman is sharing a story of caution and disappointment after thousands of dollars in donations were stolen at a fundraiser for her friend.
The event was for Suzanne Cook Kaye at St. Clement Hall on April 5 in west Toledo.
Kaye has a rare form of leukemia and has gone through chemotherapy, a bone-marrow transplant and now is in need of an expensive double-hip replacement.
Ella-Lynne Dudek, a friend and classmate of Kaye, made a guest appearance on Good Day on WTOL 11 to promote the event, which she and other Whitmer High School graduates and friends were holding for Kaye's surgery.
But the fundraiser had an unfortunate outcome. A jug containing $7,000 was stolen from the event and Dudek said it's changed her outlook on fundraisers.
"You don't know what people are capable of and you don't know what their intentions are, 'cause not everybody has good intentions," Dudek said.
Dudek said she had no idea the event would turn out as it did. She said she would not have been a part of it if she had known from the beginning because many different hands were handling the money with little oversight.
Dudek said they had a jug for loose money donations which she said was covered so you could not see the exact amount.
Then, once the group ordered pizza, she said she noticed things started to get suspicious when she said she witnessed three guys in hooded sweatshirts enter the room.
"I also witnessed one of the guys in the middle of that group who was staring at the jug on the floor, which I had no idea why a committee member would put a jug on the floor that was full of cash by the door," Dudek said.
Dudek said she is not sure who to trust now after hundreds of people were at the event and with the lights going out at one point.
"It was like 'Clue' happened. There were two guys that got loud and had an altercation," Dudek said. "And while everyone was looking at these two guys, these three guys walk right out the door."
According to court documents, 41-year-old Jeffery Powloski is charged with felony theft for allegedly stealing the $7,000 in question. Powloski will be in court on May 23.
But Dudek believes there are more people involved. She claims that more than $20,000 is unaccounted for after the fundraiser.
It's driven her to take action. She's working with the authorities to find all who are accountable. Despite the theft and mistrust, Dudek said there are still good people that do care.
"The community that really got behind Suzanne, got behind Suzanne for Suzanne," Dudek said. "Not for a bunch of idiots to get together and decide to steal from us."
Dudek said if you were at the event or donated, you should call the detective bureau at the Toledo Police Department. She said she has been working with Detective Andre Bills whose number is 419-984-4191.