Graffiti restaurant reports $20K theft

<p>Police are investigating a report that a former employee embezzled $20,000 from the Graffiti Restaurant in downtown Petaluma. </p><p>Police confirmed they received a report on Dec. 6 of an embezzlement, but Lt. Tim Lyons said more information is needed before the investigation can continue.</p><p>“We have received a report that an employee embezzled money, but it requires a lot of financial documents and statements we haven't yet received,” Lyons said. </p><p>He said a detective has been assigned to the case.</p><p>Maureen McGowan, the restaurant's owner, said she was under the impression she had already given the police the documentation they required. </p><p>“Everything is documented,” she said. “It started shortly after my son was injured.”</p><p>McGowan is the mother of former Petaluma High track standout Danny Cox, who was injured and left paralyzed in a shallow-water diving accident in Lake Tahoe on Aug. 11, 2010. He died in a traffic crash on Highway 101 near Olompali State Historic Park near Novato on Aug. 7 of this year. </p><p>“It (the embezzlement) started a little after my son was injured,” McGowan said. “I couldn't believe it. He took $300 on the day my son died.”</p><p>She said the employee, described as a manager, who has not yet been named by police, was apparently discounting sales and pocketing the difference.</p><p>McGowan said she didn't miss the money at first because she was busy caring for her severely injured son and dealing with trying to keep her restaurant going at a particularly stressful time in her life. </p><p>“I was caring for my son and doing everything I could to keep the business going. I didn't do the normal things I would have done to check up,” she said. </p><p>“It has just been one thing after another. I haven't even had the time to grieve for my son.”</p><p>(Contact John Jackson at acsports@arguscourier.com)</p>