Food criminal gets 3 years in jail for $69.27 food bill

[aGameOfThrones]

Anthony M. Malabehar finished a sumptuous meal that included crab, lobsters and dessert and then announced that he had no money to pay the $69.27 tab.

He was arrested, pleaded guilty and earlier this month was sentenced to three years in prison.

In delivering the prison term, the judge took into consideration that Malabehar, 47, of Mattoon, Ill., had 70 prior arrests. He also had been released from jail the day before his meal for not paying at another restaurant.
Malabehar made his menu choices at the Alamo Steakhouse on April 4.

"He ordered a filet, snow crab, lobster pinches, snickers pie, two shots of rumple minz, and a Mike's hard lemonade," a spokeswoman for Alamo Steak House said.

But when the check came for $69.27, he refused to pay.

"He came up to the server and said 'Let me let you in on a secret, I don't have any money," she said. "So the server went to the manager, who called the police. The police informed the manager that this guy has been going all over town and eating at restaurants without paying."

Malabehar had been arrested once earlier this year on Feb. 2 for eating at a restaurant without paying, according to Illinois records.

"The police told the manager to keep the man in the restaurant and that they would come," the spokeswoman said.
When the police arrived Malabehar told the officers he had ordered food at the restaurant knowing that he would not be able to pay, according to a police report obtained by ABC News.

Malabehar was arrested and charged with burglary, the report said. He pleaded guilty to theft on June 6.

"Before this incident, Malabehar has been charged with either burglary or theft 13 times. He has been arrested approximately 70 times," Scales said.

It is still unclear why Malabehar committed the theft at Alamo Steak House.
(he was hungry and didn't want to pay?)


http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/3-years-just-desserts-man-refused-pay-dinner-103914862.html

[kcchiefs6465]

They either should have had him washing dishes or beat the man out the door, down the road, and then some.

Why taxpayers should be stolen over $100,000 from to pay for a man who stole $69.00 is beyond me.

I'm all in favor of that man getting a little bit of retribution should he have refused to help around the restaurant. Or if the management did not want him around the restaurant.

[kcchiefs6465]

I know my scenario is not plausible in a world full of lawyers and unraised cowards but that it what should have happened. On principle.

[Brian4Liberty]

Similar to a serial shoplifter. What to do with him?

It sounds like he wants to be in jail. Three hots and a cot.

[Alex Libman]

In a rational justice system, the man would be publicly humiliated (i.e. strangers seeing him on the streets would have their Google Glass glasses add a little warning icon next to him) and have to pay restitution. But a rational justice system is what we don't have.

Our justice system is bad for the victim - they don't get anything but more wasted time.

Our justice system is bad for the taxpayers - they pay for the prisons, etc, etc, etc.

Our justice system is bad for the convicts - they waste their life and learn nothing.

Only the government benefits - for its own sake.

[FrankRep]

The judge took into consideration that Malabehar had 70 prior arrests.

[oyarde]

Similar to a serial shoplifter. What to do with him?

It sounds like he wants to be in jail. Three hots and a cot.

No filet and Lobster claws in the jail I imagine?

[Alex Libman]

I'm sure the hard-working scientists of the Prison-Industrial Complex can find a way to make porridge cost about as much. Why not? The taxpayers are paying...

[asurfaholic]

Yea. He's not getting 3 years time for stealing $69... He's getting 3 years because he is a thief.

I'd like to see repeat offenders have their citizenships revoked and kicked out of the country. You can't fix stupid.

[satchelmcqueen]

with his blantant priors, i agree with the judge. this is the type of guy who will steal from you over and over and cost you money just trying to make your house safe. he should be forced to do hard time. if thats even allowed anymore.

[kcchiefs6465]

The judge took into consideration that Malabehar had 70 prior arrests.
Indeed. At least one of a which a week earlier was for the same thing.

I was more mentioning that if his legs were broken in the earlier incident, I believe it was arrest 69, then perhaps arrest #70 wouldn't have happened.

His legs wouldn't even have needed to be broken, that's hyperbolic. An asswhooping he would not soon forget would be just fine. Assuming of course they couldn't find some toilets for him to scrub off his debt.

[HOLLYWOOD]

They either should have had him washing dishes or beat the man out the door, down the road, and then some.

Why taxpayers should be stolen over $100,000 from to pay for a man who stole $69.00 is beyond me.

I'm all in favor of that man getting a little bit of retribution should he have refused to help around the restaurant. Or if the management did not want him around the restaurant.Yeap should of been washing dishes, moping floors, emptying garbage cans.

The taxpayer having to flip the bill, means we lose every single time.

[Occam's Banana]

Yeap should of been washing dishes, moping floors, emptying garbage cans.

The taxpayer having to flip the bill, means we lose every single time.

Precisely. But, hey - the Prison-Industrial Complex is hungry, too!

[angelatc]

Yeap should of been washing dishes, moping floors, emptying garbage cans.

The taxpayer having to flip the bill, means we lose every single time.

Guessing the labor laws in the nation make that illegal.

[LibertyEagle]

Guessing the labor laws in the nation make that illegal.

Yeah, they'd probably call it cruel and unusual punishment.

[mad cow]

No,they'd call it stealing union jobs.

[BAllen]

One day's work in each restaurant would have covered it.

[DamianTV]

In a rational justice system, the man would be publicly humiliated (i.e. strangers seeing him on the streets would have their Google Glass glasses add a little warning icon next to him) and have to pay restitution. But a rational justice system is what we don't have.

Our justice system is bad for the victim - they don't get anything but more wasted time.

Our justice system is bad for the taxpayers - they pay for the prisons, etc, etc, etc.

Our justice system is bad for the convicts - they waste their life and learn nothing.

Only the government benefits - for its own sake.

When google glass hits the streets, all Ron Paul supporters will have your little "Warning" icon pop up next to their heads. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

[Cutlerzzz]

I wouldn't trust him to wash my dishes or go near my kitchen. I would fully expect a guy like to steal more from you if you give him access.

[kcchiefs6465]

When google glass hits the streets, all Ron Paul supporters will have your little "Warning" icon pop up next to their heads. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.
After the ocular cancer sets in it really won't matter one way or the other though. :D

Not to make light of ocular cancer but some of these cameras in cameras on glasses in cameras people might need to wake up and ask the question of what type of repercussions these devices may have.

You know what will be super cool as well? NSA backdoors that allow them to access any Google glass vision the wearer sees. Don't look at the wrong things folks. Might trigger an autoresponse if you spend a little longer than average looking at a building.

People will think I'm joking or paranoid... wait and see how 'cool' the future is going to get.

[kcchiefs6465]

I wouldn't trust him to wash my dishes or go near my kitchen. I would fully expect a guy like to steal more from you if you give him access.
In the society I envision, someone who disrespects a person that blatantly would have no doubt what was to come. If the owner felt generous and the man was genuinely down on his luck, I'd hope he'd let the man work it off. Otherwise, the man should be beaten on general principle. "Let me let you in on a secret, I have no money." That type of mentality and blatant disrespect towards another person, I don't know how the owner kept his cool. NAP and all that, but I truly hope the next restaurant he tries that in he gets a rude awakening. I doubt it will ever happen in this society because people are conditioned to call the police.

Someone should be calling 911 alright. Not for the police though.

In other threads where I refer and try to use words to explain how some people were never raised, this is a prime example. Jail isn't going to change his ways. He'll do the same damn thing when he gets out.

I wonder what would happen if you walked into a tavern in the Old West, ordered your swill, then called the bartender over and laughingly said, "Let me let you in on a little secret." At the very least there would be a well deserved boot party. And I doubt the man would try it again.

[John F Kennedy III]

They either should have had him washing dishes or beat the man out the door, down the road, and then some.

Why taxpayers should be stolen over $100,000 from to pay for a man who stole $69.00 is beyond me.

I'm all in favor of that man getting a little bit of retribution should he have refused to help around the restaurant. Or if the management did not want him around the restaurant.


I 2nd this ^

[Working Poor]

Yet Monsanto gets to poison over half the people in the world with protection from being prosecuted go figure

[69360]

The guy obviously enjoys the free ride in jail.

Make him do hard labor and not cushy 3 hots a cot and tv then he won't like jail so much anymore.

[kcchiefs6465]

The guy obviously enjoys the free ride in jail.

Make him do hard labor and not cushy 3 hots a cot and tv then he won't like jail so much anymore.
No. Slave labor [on paper] is illegal. If he worked off restitution paid directly to the person he robbed that is one thing, to stamp out license plates or make army helmets is another.

To be clear though he probably is either way. I am entirely against the concept because one, it is slavery, and two, there are many people in prison for victimless 'crimes.' To make them work for pennies a day is exceptionally unjust. Holding them in a cage is bad enough, that's just insult to injury.

I am curious about his 70 arrests though. I wonder if someone here has access to a site that does criminal reports? I'd imagine most all of his crimes are non-violent failure to appears, failure to pay fines etc. otherwise the book would have probably been thrown at him long ago.

[69360]

No. Slave labor [on paper] is illegal. If he worked off restitution paid directly to the person he robbed that is one thing, to stamp out license plates or make army helmets is another.

To be clear though he probably is either way. I am entirely against the concept because one, it is slavery, and two, there are many people in prison for victimless 'crimes.' To make them work for pennies a day is exceptionally unjust. Holding them in a cage is bad enough, that's just insult to injury.

I am curious about his 70 arrests though. I wonder if someone here has access to a site that does criminal reports? I'd imagine most all of his crimes are non-violent failure to appears, failure to pay fines etc. otherwise the book would have probably been thrown at him long ago.


Then how do you propose to stop a guy like this from repeat offending? Jail doesn't work, he seems to enjoy it.

Theft is not a victimless crime.

[kcchiefs6465]

Then how do you propose to stop a guy like this from repeat offending? Jail doesn't work, he seems to enjoy it.
Theft is not a victimless crime.
I've mentioned in this thread how I think this kind of action should be deterred. The law would rather put him in jail though.

Suppose he did that in an old west town, what do you think the response would be? Especially after his blatant disrespect towards the waiter?

I am not referring to anything too drastic but he would be either bartering, or he'd be getting his ass kicked down the road. That is of course depending on the situation. Him working off his meal would have seemed sufficient had he not said his "Let me let you in a on secret," and been a punk about it.

I truly wish the next time he tries his bullshit at a restaurant that someone cleans his clock. Either that or he'd be paying with his shoes, pants, his shirt.. it really wouldn't matter. You don't do that. Whether he'd be walking home buttass naked.

[Alex Libman]

When google glass hits the streets, all Ron Paul supporters will have your little "Warning" icon pop up next to their heads. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

Then I'll wear mine proudly. :)

The point is that, thanks to new tech, it is possible to get independent information about a person as soon as you see them. That way the same guy can't pull off this scam very often. Other people will be interested in this information too - women he tries to pick up, potential employers, etc. A man's reputation ought to be worth a lot more than one free night on the town. And this kind of screw-up, unless made good, can haunt him for the rest of his life.

Making him do dishes is probably still the best solution to this; I'm just saying that there are alternatives. As technology changes, society will inevitably have to change as well.



Why taxpayers should be stolen over $100,000 from to pay for a man who stole $69.00 is beyond me.

When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

When all you have is a gov't police monopoly, every social transgression is "fixed" with prison at tax-victim expense...

[kcchiefs6465]

Then I'll wear mine proudly. :)

The point is that, thanks to new tech, it is possible to get independent information about a person as soon as you see them. That way the same guy can't pull off this scam very often. Other people will be interested in this information too - women he tries to pick up, potential employers, etc. A man's reputation ought to be worth a lot more than one free night on the town. And this kind of screw-up, unless made good, can haunt him for the rest of his life.

I am no technophobe but this post makes me shiver at the implications.

You are spot on though.

I'd like to ask a few rhetorical questions...

Have you never done anything wrong?
Has a person never seen the light through their wrong, to change their ways?
Are thoughts crimes?
Are companies above personal rights?
Is privacy not sacred?
Is life not sacred?
Are abuses only perpetrated by those elected?
Are those elected even accountable to those who put them there?
Are you willing to be watched, every move you make, including within your home?
Is the expectation of privacy obsolete?
Is America obsolete?

I do know the answers. My answers do not matter though. How far can a million dollars reach? That's not enough; How far can a billion dollars reach? Is the interest there? How far can this trillion dollars reach to research and fund the studies that will lead the American populous to welcome this? But you say I have GPS? Sounds fancy. I walk the streets, drive when allowed, I never even realized the overreach. And we fund it all. Not to ever get dividends back, never that. Maybe oil and gas triple taxed. I'm supposed to be optimistic when I'm the one that being shorted in the long run. (earlier generation reaping artificial benefits, that is)

I don't mind anymore, in due time, we'll all be lamb chops. I cannot debunk propaganda from a billion spent FRNs fast enough.

Kind of funny though.. being the only way you can really look at it without becoming overwhelmed. Being consumed by consumption. We'll all be fat and starving. I'd call that one prophecy.

[PaulConventionWV]

I know my scenario is not plausible in a world full of lawyers and unraised cowards but that it what should have happened. On principle.

I agree. Have him work it off. If he refuses, ID him and don't let him in ever again.

[PaulConventionWV]

The judge took into consideration that Malabehar had 70 prior arrests.

Your point?

[kcchiefs6465]

I agree. Have him work it off. If he refuses, ID him and don't let him in ever again.
Am I missing something? I was not trying to be offensive to lawyers, my statement was referring to the lawsuit that would come about should the world run on principles, honor, and respect.

[alucard13mm]

Or... cut off his hands or fingers like our ancestors did to thiefs?

[SpiritOf1776_J4]

This is dumb. Maybe he should be forced to work and pay back the victim times some. But I don't see why the government is profiting, the jails are profiting, and the public is probably paying XXXX more than he stole, while the victims get nothing.

Our justice system is stupid. We'd be better off with the state before the state.

[kcchiefs6465]

Or... cut off his hands or fingers like our ancestors did to thiefs?
Somewhere in the middle would be preferable.

Someone stealing from me is not going to get a ride to jail.

I wouldn't ever even consider cutting fingers off or something that extreme but they'd know they aren't welcome back.

Blatancy and disrespect plays a role. I might tell them they aren't welcome on my property anymore. I might not.

If he told the staff "Let me let you in on a secret" that would change the attitude.