Authorities don’t know why an Illinois man skipped out on his tabs at two restaurants. Was he broke? Was the food terrible? We don’t know. What we do know is that twice in a period of two months, he ordered a nice meal at a restaurant, then simply told waitstaff that he couldn’t pay and waited for the police to arrive.

The problem is that eating a $70 steak dinner you don’t want to pay for carries a theft charge. Normally, a theft that small would be a misdemeanor, but the meal-napper had enough of a criminal record that he was charged with a felony. Originally, he was charged with burglary because he walked into the restaurant planning not to pay. He could have received a prison sentence of up to sixteen years.

In addition to the prison sentence, he also had to make restitution to the restaurants and pay a $100 fine.

Man gets 3 years in prison after restaurant meal thefts [Journal Gazette and Times-Courier] via CBS Charlotte

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