$1 Felony Happened at McDonald’s in East Naples
$1 felony is being charged to a 52-year-old man in Florida for taking a cup of soda without paying.
According to Naples News, a man named Mark Abaire is facing a $1 felony charge after he used a courtesy cup and filled it with soda.
The incident happened in McDonald’s East Naples on Thursday where the local manager told the police that Abaire walked out the restaurant without paying for the cup of soda. Abaire was told by an employee that the courtesy cup that he took was only for water, however, he filled it with soda instead and went to sit outside.
The local manager asked him to pay $1 for the cup of soda but Abaire refused and cursed at him.
The authorities arrested the 52-year-old man and charged him with $1 felony, instead of just petty theft. This is because Abaire had a couple of petty theft convictions already in the past and hitting the “three strikes” law in Florida aggravates the crime.
Mike Adams, the owner of McDonald’s in East Naples, issued the following statement:
“I take these matters seriously. As a local business owner, I have a responsibility to take appropriate steps to protect my business and keep my customers and employees safe.”
He also pointed out that Abaire was issued a trespass warning at the same McDonald’s in 2008.
The third-degree felony in Florida has a punishment of 5 years maximum in prison and a $5,000 fine. And it’s because of the $1 soda that he did not want to pay.
Photo Credit: Collier County Sheriff
YES! DONT STEAL! … simple as that! Work your as* out to have money and buy beer, its better than soda! 🙂
lol, I dunno if you are racist or something , but you are of course I guess talking bout zimmerman case right? before you bark , check you facts right my friend. Tho Im against Racism-against-afroAmerican, I dont think you we are in a right side to convict zimmerman, He might did it for self defence , and he was not really that kid anymore, he is a young adult already, capable of attacking and killing also, it just the picture look like he is a kid, cause twas taken way before the killing as you’ve said. but there is racist-against-Hispanic&whitepeople also my friend, so don’t just take your facts from the Media, wait for the court. Self Defence or murder…. let just wait, we are not present during the incident.
By the way the Soda thing, .. Thats what you called LAW, he did it repeatedly, if he can do it with cola , then you think it will be cola forever? i dont think so….
Seriously?! Let me guess…Bleeding Heart Liberal? People behave that way because they don’t believe anyone will stop them. He has a history of trouble. Would you have the likes of him as your neighbor? It’s only a soda….today.
Coke destroys lives! Or was it Pepsi?
I wish a person would buy a $1 cup from this McDonalds. Then, head over to the soda fountain and press the button and just hold it while staring at the manager.
You forgot about the woman that kills her child and is plead not guilty?
As a tax paying citizen, I don’t want a man to go through the system, where we’ll pay 35k so that they fkn ruin his life, and our pockets. Will you pay for this? Fk his 1$ shit, I’m not going to pay 35k for sht like this damn it!
Sorry, but unless you are flat broke, there is no reason one couldn’t pay a solitary dollar for a drink.
i live in florida and it sucks here let me tell you. The government is ridiculous and i can’t wait to move 🙂
So I am just curios. Which is the bigger crime. Taking the dollar soda or charging a dollar for that soda? Seriously people the mark up in that is crazy. But here some of you are saying stone the guy for a soda that cost 10 cents. Why not stone Mcdonalds for charging so dang much??? Seriously people wake up!!!!!!
yeah but now thousands of our tax dollars will be flushed down the drain to pay for the most trivial offense imaginable.
The issue is not that he was arrested, its the charge doesnt fit the crime. Trying to charge this man with 3 strikes is absurd. Community service would be a better punishment. Give him 40 hours of cleaning bathrooms at a homeless shelter. Wow, people are getting anal. Im suprised you didnt say cut off his hands! Is the Talaban in Florida?
I think the felony charge is a little much, but considering the guy was asked not to return to the McDonald’s and has had prior arrest for the same behavior I can’t fault the manager for his decision. If it was a first time offense, I would say the manager needs to learn a lesson in charity. I managed a fast food franchise for a few months, and I had a few homeless people who came to the store, I pulled money out of my pocket to help feed those people, because if one man starves to death on the streets the failure is on society and not that man.
Better yet, lets just let all the criminals run lose, and put them on our welfare tab and give them free stuff all day long! Ill keep working and paying my way…
I agree stealing is wrong but Florida is ridiculous with all these people being given idiotic penalties. We have a child killer (Casey Anthony) who walks on murder, and we have the whole Trayvon Martin thing, and then we have a guy facing prison for a 1$ cup of coffee? Let the punishment fit the crime!
if he was the manager in 2008 or not it does not matter because when you become manager you take on the responsibilties. you must know the face of any person that has been issed a trespass and act upon it immediately. not give a known person a cup and have a phone in the other hand ready to call the cops.
Adam your statement is absolutely ridiculous. The fact is that our jails are overwhelmed by petty things like this while there are violent criminals walking the street. You tell me where it serves the public to spend the money it cost the officer to arrest, the judge to arraign and then for you and I the tax payer to house these folks. I guarantee you that the bill will come to more than $1. This guy that took the soda is a thief, yes but the punishment should be community corrections, volunteering at a homeless shelter or cleaning grafitti off of walls. I get more outraged at idiots that try to group anyone who would disagree with them in with the criminals and that is just plain stupid…Not to put too fine a point on there
No one seems to care that McDonalds steals from their customer as well! They hide all the crap that they put in thier food to make it CHEAP. Mcdonalds steals peoples health by claiming to be something else than what it is. McDonalds should be closed down! Crappy food that is one of the big cause of obesity!
While I don’t condone any sort of theft, obviously the punishment does not fit the crime here.
Yeah… tell her guys… lets fill up all the prisons with those .50 stealers out there, and then we’ll just build more and more prisons to house all the people who commit petty crimes! Sounds good… right? What a joke!!! Just because the guy who took the drink is an asshat (just like the uptight manager), doesn’t mean that he needs to spend 5 yrs in jail… let the punishment fit the crime! Cruel and Unusual punishment is Unconstitutional, so before you say that “this is whats wrong with our society” you may want to realize that this country was made so this does NOT happen… Good call Jessica!
This is the stupidest thing I have ever heard! What kind of manager would take it that seriously….. Not a big deal! If i was there I would have given him dollar… Geeeshhh! Who cares enough to get police involved with this! Poor man 🙁
Insane! If the Laws are that up the Butt INSANE!!!
I can’t believe to what extreme things can change in a second.
For one maybe the person is homeless, so from now on the taxpayers will be paying for full accommodations for years to come.
I witness a similar situation, where a person couldn’t pay for some fruit at register and I was more than willing to pay for the items. I am definitely not rich But i believe in paying it forward. If someone had just step in to help with a $1 then this story would have another ending.
going to cost the state more to try him if found guilty to keep him in jail then cost of soda (go figure)
ss
The amount of a company’s profit does not justify stealing from them! No one ‘owes’ anyone free stuff.
My first reaction was to say “Wow, a felony for a buck?” But then I realized “Well, I don’t go around stealing things that are a dollar in any case, neither should this scumbag.” It’s easy for someone to say let this guy slide, but then what happens? Everyone else is gonna want to steal $1 sodas too…and ultimately guess who ends up paying for that? Loyal paying customers.
If EVERY person who took even 50cents from you wanted to…it would add up. This is what is wrong with our society. It’s WRONG no matter the size. The guy should be charge for his foul launguage too, and disturbing the peace….How that for being an ASSHAT?! You should just admit you were mistaken when you made your comment, because as I see it…we have a person who employeed and not making millions having to deal with a social leach and it appears that you were sideing with the social leach.
Abaire was issued a trespass warning at the same McDonald’s in 2008. He has no respect for place or person…I glad he got charged!
He could have just paid for it. He asked for jail time when he started cussing at McDonalds.
Yes, the manger had issues–with a thief! What entitles this man (or anyone else) to not pay? It’s the same as stealing a part of YOUR paycheck, cuz its just a dollar!
How ridiculous. How much $$ will this cost the state. The manager needs to get a life. Personally I’d like to smack him!
Im so torn on this. To me, they make a lot off of soda and I would have just been like “whatever”. However, this man had been in trouble at this location before so I guess maybe i would have done the same. Hmmmm.
Does it matter whether he stole 1 dollar or 1 million dollars? Not if you are the one he stole from. If you are outraged about him going to jail then maybe you are a thief too? Don’t steal!
That’s a myth!
He is a repeat offender. He will continue to try and get away with this stuff all the time. No business should have to suffer a loss because its ‘just a dollar’. Maybe if the justice came down harder on him the first time, he wouldn’t be so inclined to steal again!
The manager has issues. when you ask for a cup for water, they give you a kids cup or a small cup. that’s not even worth a dollar. that’s like the equivalent to eating a chicken nugget that fell on the floor. chill out asshat.
Another more peaceful way was to a)tell him if on his next visit he doesn’t pay for the soda he may well be banned from future visits. To have him arrested is just plain aggressive on both the McDonald’s manager and the police who thought it just cause to arrest this person for such a “crime”. What is this country coming to!!!!
you got to be kidding me, what kind of state is florida,,they dont arrest a man on the spot that admitted to killing a unarmed kid—— but arresyt a man for a $1 cup of soda….wowwwwwwww
hahaha, what an idiot! pay the friggin dollar, DUDE!!!
what ever happened to the pricipal of “let the punishment fit the crime”?
broke nigga shit