| This thread has been locked, it will not receive new replies. |
|
Locked on 04/07/2005 4:35:16 PM PDT by Sidebar Moderator, reason:
Duplicate: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1379476/posts |
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."
A little nervous and a lot stoopid.
Yes, what with all the heartless murders committed by $2 bills and all...
A bunch of morons have seriously dented this poor guy's life, and it's all supposed to be 9/11's fault? Please.
I predict a quiet legal settlement with best buy and this man that will more than take care of the installation bill.
And it's not surprising this happened at best buy. Not exactly the best and the brightest running the show there.
Well, he's now going to get all that money and a lot more back when the inevitable false-arrest lawsuit comes a-knockin'.
If I was a Best Buy executive, I'd be paying this guy off fast. The PD however, is screwed.
Uh oh....... this is one case where I think I would sue.....
I'd rather get paid in $2 bills than those ersatz gold squawbucks.
What the &%@#** does this have to do with 9/11?
No. It is a sign that there are way too many stupid people both in retail and in the Baltimore Police Department.
I hope so!
Three came to mind without half trying.
Sometimes, I really, REALLY wish stupidity was painful!
I know somebody who's going to be owning a Best Buy store soon.
using $2 bills (Best Buy), samtheman wrote:
When you pay with $2 bills, Al Qaida wins.
AQ doesn't have to do anything.
They can just sit back and enjoy watching this society dissintegrating in it's own stupidity....
They are probably all the products of publik sku-wells.
Was he half gay? Lighten up!
Many years back I thought it would be cool to make a pad of bills. I went to the bank and bought 100 one-dollar bills in sequential order. Then I used that office supply stuff and made a pad like a notepad. It was the funniest thing to go into 7-11 and buy something, then count off and tear off the bills. The dude behind the counter usually gazed in unbelief (of course, I did put a cover on it that said FUNNY MONEY PAD.)
Sue the idiots. False arrest? Ridiculous.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.