OPA-LOCKA -- Business is bustling for Donna Phillips. Phillips started her business, Perry Wings Plus, in 2002, building it from the ground up. Now, she and her family own and operate numerous locations in south Florida, including this one in Opa-locka.

"It's my life's work and it's my life, so I don't have anything else but this business — this brand and this business," said Phillips.

She says her employees are close to her heart and a huge part of the brand's success.

"All my workers are like my family, you know," she said.

But Friday night, Phillips says a member of her work family betrayed her.

"We trusted the cashier to take care of whatever left-over customers would come in, and she decided to grab all the money from the register, stuff it in her pants, and leave," said Phillips.

Just moments after, the surveillance video shows the cashier snatching more money from a second register before she bailed.

"I felt like I wanted to vomit, I felt violated. Violated is the word," she said.

Phillips says she hasn't seen or heard from the former employee since she left with more than $2,000 on Friday night.

"I hope they find her, and I hope she's prosecuted. I hope she learns from this," she said.

Phillips has this warning to other small business owners: "Be aware of what's going on. You can't always trust people, I guess. It's a hard lesson I had to learn. A very hard lesson."

Phillips says the employee worked there for about a month, and she filed a police report with the Miami-Dade Police.

We reached out to the department for comment about the incident but have not received any information about the investigation.