Police say a Kersey bartender voided customers’ bills for months and stole the cash they paid him.

Alexander Cherry II, 24, was arraigned on theft charges today. The complaint says he admitted to taking money from the First Chance Inn in Kersey to feed his drug habit.

Police say nearly $12,000 disappeared from December to May, and Cherry was fired in June.

An employee says he’d worked there for a few years, and bit the hand that was feeding him.

“It’s just sad that he would do this to somebody that did everything for him, basically. That’s how bad drugs are now in the area,” says owner’s sister Cathy Hand.

Cherry did not have a lawyer and told the judge, Mark Jacob, that he’d already admitted his guilt to the trooper. A hearing was set for next month and Jacob told him to stay away from the restaurant.