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Posted on 04/07/2005 2:49:38 PM PDT by samtheman
A man trying to pay a fee using $2 bills was arrested, handcuffed and taken to jail after clerks at a Best Buy store questioned the currency's legitimacy and called police.
According to an account in the Baltimore Sun, 57-year-old Mike Bolesta was shocked to find himself taken to the Baltimore County lockup in Cockeysville, Md., where he was handcuffed to a pole for three hours while the U.S. Secret Service was called to weigh in on the case.
Bolesta told the Sun: "I am 6 feet 5 inches tall, and I felt like 8 inches high. To be handcuffed, to have all those people looking on, to be cuffed to a pole – and to know you haven't done anything wrong. And me, with a brother, Joe, who spent 33 years on the city police force. It was humiliating."
After Best Buy personnel reportedly told Bolesta he would not be charged for the installation of a stereo in his son's car, he received a call from the store saying it was in fact charging him the fee. As a means of protest, Bolesta decided to pay the $114 bill using 57 crisp, new $2 bills.
As the owner of Capital City Student Tours, the Baltimore resident has a hearty supply of the uncommon currency. He often gives the bills to students who take his tours for meal money.
"The kids don't see that many $2 bills, so they think this is the greatest thing in the world," Bolesta says. "They don't want to spend 'em. They want to save 'em. I've been doing this since I started the company. So I'm thinking, 'I'll stage my little comic protest. I'll pay the $114 with $2 bills.'"
Bolesta explained what happened when he presented the bills to the cashier at Best Buy Feb. 20.
"She looked at the $2 bills and told me, 'I don't have to take these if I don't want to.' I said, 'If you don't, I'm leaving. I've tried to pay my bill twice. You don't want these bills, you can sue me.' So she took the money – like she's doing me a favor."
Belesta says the cashier marked each bill with a pen. Other store employees began to gather, a few of them asking, "Are these real?"
"Of course they are," Bolesta said. "They're legal tender."
According to the Sun report, the police arrest report noted one employee noticed some smearing of ink on the bills. That's when the cops were called. One officer reportedly noticed the bills ran in sequential order.
Said Bolesta: "I told them, 'I'm a tour operator. I've got thousands of these bills. I get them from my bank. You got a problem, call the bank.' I'm sitting there in a chair. The store's full of people watching this. All of a sudden, he's standing me up and handcuffing me behind my back, telling me, 'We have to do this until we get it straightened out.'
"Meanwhile, everybody's looking at me. I've lived here 18 years. I'm hoping my kids don't walk in and see this. And I'm saying, 'I can't believe you're doing this. I'm paying with legal American money.'"
Bolesta was taken to the lockup, where he sat handcuffed to a pole and in leg irons while the Secret Service was called.
"At this point," he says, "I'm a mass murderer."
Secret Service agent Leigh Turner eventually arrived and declared the bills legitimate, adding, according to the police report, "Sometimes ink on money can smear."
Commenting on the incident, Baltimore County police spokesman Bill Toohey told the Sun: "It's a sign that we're all a little nervous in the post-9/11 world."
I'm thinking new deluxe home theatre system for the effort of writing a letter, and frankly, I wouldn't hesitate.
They do, but shouldn’t.
We had to fart around with them forever because there was a dog racing track nearby and $2 bills were their currency of choice.
First, unless you’re old or lived near a dog track you’ve probably never run across one. Second, they’re a pain in the ass because there’s no cash drawer on earth (that I’ve seen) that is built to accommodate them.
So you end up either stuffing them in with other denominations (which will inevitably lead to some shortage or other because they typically get stuck in with the singles – unlike me, ‘cause I stuck them in with the $20’s) or having to stop the world while you drop and handful of $2 bills because you can’t figure out anything else to do with them.
Also, they’re a bit like Canadian quarters – you end up with them but somehow can’t ever get rid of them. IOW, if you bought $7.50 worth of something you probably wouldn’t want my $2 bill and two quarters as your change. Well, you might, but the locals certainly didn’t.
My grandfather used to carry around a pocket full of Susan B. Anthony dollars in the late 1970's just to agravate the store clerks. They usually had to call the manager to the front to verify what they were.
The day after payday, all the cash registers were full of twos.
The complaints dropped off quite a bit after that.
I’ve had problems getting kids to accept dollar coins at a local store. “We only accept American money, sir”!
I like dollar coins. It’s a hassle to dig a couple dollar bills from my wallet when I can easily pull a couple coins from my pocket – and it’s not like a buck will buy much these days.
Good thing he didn't try to pay with Susan B Anthony dollars, they would have given him the death penalty.
I personally would sue. I can't believe that neither the store or the PD had the common sense to read the bills. Although the $2 bill does look suspicious. Why would the have U. S, currency with a picture of Jed Clampett with his fancy go to meetin' clothes on? :)
"Commenting on the incident, Baltimore County police spokesman Bill Toohey told the Sun: "It's a sign that we're all a little nervous in the post-9/11 world."
Guaranteed that these clerks at Best Buy were all the product of liberal run government schools.
Makes me want to get a bunch of $2 Bills and buy something at Best Buy.
They don't grow them too bright in Baltimore, do they???
Your grandfather had a helluva sense of humor!
you right on not very bright, where the hell do they find these duds, I will not shop at Best Buys.
LOL
One word is all that is needed to explain how this happened:
Baltimore.
These are the same Politically Correct Totalitarian vermin who wand rape 13 year old girls and 80 year old grannies at the airport while leaving our southern borders an unguarded open sewer.
When wifey and I were driving out to see Monticello in 1987, - Adult admission $7.00 - I said to her, "I bet they give us our change in two-dollar bills." I whipped out a Hermitage and got three Monitcellos back. I still carry one around in my wallet.
I lived in Bal-tea-more for about 8 years. I call them "Balti-morons". Funny, once you get that word in your vocab it sticks and becomes the preferred way to describe them.
Don't tell me that there isn't a cash register made that can accommodate them. They are made for Canada, who have a $1 and a $2 coin. Most cash drawers I peek into during transactions have the extra coin slot filled with rolls of pennies.
Almost all vending machines that have a $1 bill acceptor will also accept the Sacagewea.
No $1 bills, and viola, you have room for $2 bills.
In the post 9-11 world you would be shot for such a heinous display of terroristic tendencies. Don't try that trick in Baltimore!
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