Posted on 09/26/2009 9:05:30 AM PDT by Born Conservative
Call it Bagelgate.
The controversy involves a Larksville coffee shop, a Plymouth police officer and a $1.30 bagel.
On Wednesday afternoon, witnesses say an on-duty officer in a Plymouth police sport utility vehicle held up the drive-through lane of the Curry Donuts on Route 11 waiting for a toasted bagel with a coffee he was given free. When told he had to pay for the bagel, the officer claimed he didn't have his wallet, said "If it's not free, I don't want it" and drove off.
The bagel went to waste.
The flap over the bagel has placed a spotlight on the broader issue about whether area cops should expect, or accept, free items from businesses.
Susan Cerretta, owner of the coffee shop, said she was "offended" after the incident. For 13 years, she has given on-duty cops a free coffee and doughnut "as a courtesy" for their service to help them stay awake on duty. She says she can't afford to give them free bagels, which she buys from a Dallas bagel shop and are higher priced than doughnuts.
"When the cops think they are entitled to it, that ticks me off. Giving them coffee is a courtesy I gladly give to them," Cerretta said. "For all the coffee I have given them, I think he could have forked over $1.30 for a bagel."
Several patrons witnessed the incident unfold around 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday. One of the customers called The Citizens' Voice on her way home to complain about the incident.
Plymouth Borough Police Chief Myles Collins downplayed the issue. He said the officer, Ryan Mahovich, explained he wasn't carrying his wallet and didn't have any money, so he couldn't pay for the bagel.
"That's all there is to it. I told him not to do it again," Collins said.
Susan Barber, 26, the clerk who served Mahovich, said she went out of her way to assist him.
There's a sign on the one-lane drive-thru window that advises anyone ordering a toasted bagel to either go inside the store or drive around the building to pick it up in several minutes. Barber said she tended to Mahovich's order immediately "because he was a cop," while several other vehicles waited in line.
She said she handed him his free coffee while she finished making his bagel - plain and toasted with light butter. When she arrived at the window to deliver the bagel, she told him he owed $1.30.
"He said, 'What, it's not free anymore? I don't have my wallet. If it's not free, I don't want it,'" Barber recalled. "I told him just the coffee was free. He got agitated and left. I was upset. I had to make other customers wait for him."
Mahovich could not be reached for comment.
The Curry Donuts in question is near the Plymouth border, just north of the Carey Avenue bridge.
Cerretta said she gives free coffee and doughnuts to on-duty officers from Larksville, Plymouth, Hanover Township, and sometimes Edwardsville and Kingston.
"I never had a problem with the police. They respond right away. They normally don't take advantage of the situation. It's a courtesy. They are on the road all day and need to stay awake," she said.
A spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Ethics Commission said gratuities to municipal police officers are not covered under the state ethics law and would be subject to local department policies. The International Association of Police Chiefs' Code of Ethics says officers should never accept gratuities.
Several police chiefs and officers interviewed said it often causes more trouble to refuse, rather than accept, free coffee. Instead, they tip servers the price of the item.
Collins and Plymouth Borough Mayor Dorothy Petrosky both said there is no departmental policy in Plymouth on whether officers could accept free items from businesses. The two plan to meet to address the question.
"We never really had an issue. I will sit down with the chief and talk it over with him. I never really knew they were getting (free coffee). It's something we have to think about," Petrosky said.
Collins said his officers "don't expect anything for free" and he doesn't encourage them to accept anything. He said he would investigate the issue and work with the mayor.
"At this point, if it's so much of a hassle, I'm going to tell them if you want it, buy it," Collins said.
If he didn’t have his wallet, did he have his driver’s license?
This is a real black eye to cops. I hope this guy learns his lesson — have enough money, even if you think you’ll get it for free. If/when you get it for free, be grateful and don’t take it for granted.
This story really saddens me.
He didn’t have his wallet so he couldn’t pay. Big deal. I’ll give the officer the benefit of the doubt over a $1.30 bagel.
Many long years ago when I worked at McDonald’s, we used to give all the police who were in uniform their entire meal free, no matter what they ordered.
It was just an excuse to not pay. But if he was lying to his chief, which I tend to believe he did, that is a different story. Dishonestly breeds corruption.
What if — he just didn’t have his wallet? I don’t understand why the owner had to make such a huge deal about it, if, as she said, usually the policemen are so nice. Then this one’s aberrant. Let it GO. She even could have given it to him for free, while mentioning that they were not usually included in the ‘free’ offer.
We’re talking about a DOLLAR.
As a previous poster pointed out, if he didn’t have his wallet, did he have his driver’s license? If not, he shouldn’t have been driving.
The donut shop was in a town different than the one he worked; they were nice enough to give the cop a coffee-they don’t even have to do that. What entitles the cop to free anything, even if the bagel was $1.30?
It’s a DOLLAR.
I think a lot of businesses give cops freebies because they LIKE having a police presense at their establishment. It causes the thugs and low lifes to go elsewhere.
Off duty!!!!!!!
Let it go?????
Have you ever run a business? How much stuff should be "free"? Why should anything be free? Do you think the product or service has no value?
I taught my kids the value of a dollar, one at a time! They are all under 40, own houses, and have low debt. Hmmmm....
It’s the owners call. If I had 24 hour place, I’d comp on-duty cops during the late night and early hours, just to have them there.
I hate local Law Enforcement - SO unprofessional.
Well, I’d comp them too, just to have them there. I’d call it ‘advertising’ in my budget. And ‘community relations.’
Now that you mention it, the state patrol always paid for their meals too.
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