Mother of alligator attack victim charged with stealing $100k from employer

BOCA GRANDE, Florida (WBBH) — A woman is facing fraud and grand theft charges after allegedly stealing $100,000 from her employer.

Teresa Lessa is accused of writing fake checks to herself at Scarpas Costal Fine Dining Restaurant on Boca Grande. Scarpas’ staff say she started stealing from them May of 2023, but they didn’t realize it until April of 2024.

“What she had started to do was steal our checks, and she would put in fraudulent ones every like 3 or 4 checks, and she did this, which we learned over the course of almost a year,” said Scarpas owner Ashley Scarpa.

May of 2023 is also when Teresa’s son, Jordan Rivera, survived a horrific alligator attack that cost him his arm. The staff at Scarpa’s supported the family through the difficult time.

“I set up her GoFundMe for Jordan to make sure that his medical bills would be paid for. It was just one little thing that I could take, you know, off of her plate when I knew it was a really hard time for her and her family,” said Scarpa’s manager Sarah Millo.

On top of all of this, Scarpa’s got hit hard by Hurricanes Milton and Helene. Everything that was inside the restaurant now lines Park Avenue. “We are basically having to rebuild this restaurant from the ground up. So that’s where we are now,” said Ashley.

However, Ashley finally breathed a sigh of relief earlier this month, on October 13th. A friend of Scarpas’ staff saw Teresa Lessa on a flight from Punta Gorda to Maine. They notified Ashely, who notified the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office. They arrested Teresa as soon as the plane touched down at Bangor International Airport.

“I shouldn’t be thrilled about this, but it was nice that the lady who was on the plane got a video of it, and I was able to see her get arrested, which was a little bit of closure in this whole debacle that we’ve kind of dealt with for almost the last year now,” said Ashley.

Now, the owners and staff at Scarpas are refocused on rebuilding their fine-dining Italian restaurant. They say they are so thankful for their community’s support.

“The amount of people that have reached out to us just wish us well and told us that they still want us on this island means a lot. And it helps our morale. Big time,” said Sarah.