A Fairfield man is facing felony and misdemeanor theft charges following an investigation into missing liquor inventory and a stolen tip at a local restaurant.
Erreth Hunter, 48, was charged with Theft in the Second Degree, a Class D felony, and Theft in the Fifth Degree, a simple misdemeanor. The alleged offenses occurred just over a year between August 15th, 2025, and August 31st, 2026. A criminal complaint was filed October 9th, and an arrest warrant was served October 17th.
According to court documents, Hunter was employed as a bar manager at a Fairfield restaurant from October 20th, 2025, through August 31st, 2026. In that role, he was directly responsible for managing all liquor inventory, placing wholesale orders and transporting product to the restaurant.
The investigation began after Hunter was caught on camera stealing a coworker’s tip, which prompted restaurant ownership to take a closer look at liquor inventory. By cross-referencing wholesale purchase orders against the restaurant’s point-of-sale system, owners determined that roughly 67 bottles of Elijah Craig Whiskey — valued at $2,176.30 — were missing. Because the whiskey appeared on purchase orders that Hunter was solely responsible for picking up and delivering to the restaurant, court documents state he would have been the one to take it.
The alleged tip theft occurred on August 15th, 2025. Court documents state that a server had waited on a customer whose bill totaled $143.70. The customer left $175.00 and told the server to keep the change. Hunter is seen on security camera cashing out the ticket without the server’s knowledge, entering $150.00 instead of $175.00, pocketing $25.00 in cash and keeping the remaining $6.30 in change — a total of $31.30 taken from the server.
