Restaurant Man Grabs the Money And Runs Away Red Caboose Worker Had Criminal Record

The manager of the Red Caboose, Cambridge's newest restaurant, walked out at 7 p.m. Sunday night allegedly carrying with him $749 of its receipts.

Thomas Wise not only emptied the cash register of $300 but unloaded $459 from the safe, the store's owner Joel Feltman claimed yesterday. Feltman had given Wise the safe's combination the day before.

At 6:55 p.m. Wise had left his post at the cash register ostensibly to go to the bathroom. He did not return. At 7:10 the short-order cook called Feltman, reporting the missing manager and money,

Wise had spent three years in prison and had a criminal record "a mile long," Feltman said. He was employed as a trainee manager by Feltman, who owns two other Boston-area restaurants, for two months before the robbery. He was released from prison two years ago.

Although reported to be in the Boston area, Wise has not yet been apprehended by Cambridge police.