This is how you take a very minor event, and change it into an incident that changes your life and legal status forever.
At any point, this 40 something y/o man could have stopped and said,”You know something, I guess you’re right. Sorry about taking a free drink. It won’t happen again”.
Instead, the stakes and the drama kept getting higher and higher. The police stormed into a public restroom to find him as he tried to hide. Insane. Either he’s an alcoholic, a tweaker or someone with mental problems. Good luck getting that next job or promotion.
Amazing, isn't it? I've seen grown men throw their Navy careers away over the most pointless stupidity. I saw a man toss 14 years of service down the tubes; his career, his pension, his family's health care, everything over stealing a can of chewing tobacco from the Navy Exchange. And all the time he had a wallet full of money. And it was his second offense (they let him off the first time with a suspended bust).