Worker steals $22K in $1 bills from Rhode Island strip club in armed heist

A Providence strip club was robbed of $22,000 – all in $1 bills by a worker of the joint who disguised his skin tone during the gunpoint heist, according to reports.

Right before the Cadillac Lounge strip club was set to open Monday afternoon, an armed suspect entered and demanded the manager hand over thousands of singles from a safe, the club’s owner told the Providence Journal.

“It’s somebody who knew our routine,” said owner Dick Shappy, who noted the suspect also knew the layout of the business.

On Tuesday, that assumption turned out to be true when Jontay Goode, 30, was charged with first-degree robbery, Providence police told the Boston Globe.

Goode, who was reportedly a barback at the club, went to great lengths to conceal his identity.

He allegedly disguised his skin tone, kept his hair under a baseball cap and wore a surgical mask and sunglasses over his face, the Globe reported, citing footage of the suspect. He also reportedly wore jeans and a jacket despite the summer weather.

On top of the 22,000 in single dollar bills, he also grabbed $3,500 from the manager who was counting money right before the suspect entered.  

“At first I thought it was a joke,” manager Ed Imondi told WPRI-TV. “He said ‘this is a robbery.’ I said ‘what?’ and he said ‘I’m going to rob the place.’”

“He took all the ones, I could hear him stacking them into the big bag he had. Obviously, he knew we had a lot of money in there,” Imondi added.

Police were able to recover most of the stolen cast shortly after the theft because Goode allegedly tried to hide the stash on nearby railroad tracks to retrieve later, according to the station.

Despite the bizarre burglary, the club still opened Monday, just hours later.

“After the police left, girls kept coming in, and I said let’s open,” Shappy told the Globe. “So we opened.”