Cash Grab Con Artist Strikes Again in Spartanburg

A cash grab con artist strikes again in the Upstate.

Spartanburg Public Safety says a woman in a hat stole hundreds out of a register at Ryan’s restaurant in Spartanburg on Thursday.  Surveillance video shows the cash grab scheme.

Officers believe the woman in the video may be the same woman they’ve been searching for since 2007.

Investigators say a similar looking woman was also caught pulling the same trick on clerks at Best Buy in Spartanburg and Bi-Lo in Cherokee County this spring.  Two years ago, video captured a woman doing it to a clerk at Golden Corral in Spartanburg.

Lt. Ron Cantrell says the hat wearing suspect is a professional.  “She’s that fast she’s good she knows what she is doing,“ Cantrell said.

Investigators are checking to see if the woman in the video is the same woman featured on America’s Most Wanted.  The show says Walentina Knapek is a possible Polish immigrant.  They say she’s been on the run since at least 1992.

If you have information, please contact Crime Trackers at 58-CRIME.