I heard a story about a guy who was unable to pay his bar tab at the end of the night because the company which issued his (only) prepaid debit card was doing some database maintenance when the bar tried to close his tab. Leaving aside for a moment the part about the maintenance, is failure to pay the tab something you can get arrested for? I don’t know in what state this happened.
Thanks,
Rob
It is generally covered under laws known as theft of services. That would also cover things like running out on a hotel bill, or modifying one’s water meter to undercharge the utility company.
I wish.
This was a standard practice of my alcoholic Ex; he would go into a bar, drink $40 or $50 worth and then give them a bad card. They would just kick him out and call it a loss but he never got arrested (pity that). He has done this all over the world…
Well, it depends. If they actually have given you credit, and you can pay it back later (like next payday), then it’s a debt issue, and no- you generally can’t be arrested (ianal, ymmv)- we generally don;t have debtors prison in the USA. But if it’s just you ordering, drinking and dashing, then Ravenman is right, it’s a theft issue. Again, depending on your juristiction, etc.
In the specific case of the “guy who was unable to pay his bar tab at the end of the night because the company which issued his (only) prepaid debit card was doing some database maintenance when the bar tried to close his tab” since the “guy” had no intent, he’d likely be OK*, but the bar owners could certainly demand some sureity, like his watch until the next day. If the bar owner called the cops, any reasonable veteran cop would try to work something out, unless either party was being a asshole.
I ran up a 200 dollar bar tab once, and when going to pay, discovered that I had left my credit cards and debit card at home. They were reasonable enough, but they asked for my driver’s license to hold until I could go home and grab a card. They said the only other alternative was to call the cops.
In PA, IME, someone can be arrested for theft of services. I have called the cops when someone cannot pay for services I’ve provided. When the police go to arrest the person, they have so far always come up with a way to pay me, calling a friend or “finding” another credit card.
Pretty much, anyone can be arrested at any time. The question is, will the charges stand up? If the guy had no “intent”, it’s be more of a civil than a criminal issue. “Dining and dashing” the intent is obvious. But let us say you had a tiny little sign up saying “no bills larger than $20” and all the guy had was a $100. No cop would ever arrest him, even though, by your rules, he couldn’t pay. Or let us say he had a valid CC, but the lines were down.
In fact, I think that if the customer agreed there was a debt, had a honest belief he could pay before incurring the debt, and offered you a IOU, then there’s be no crime, just a civil matter. Again, I’d like to see a real lawyer chime in on this.
But yes, the police will often try to get you both to come up with a solution.
(IANAL, not legal advice)
The important part of “theft of services” offenses is an “intent to defraud”. If someone truly didn’t know (and couldn’t reasonably have known) that their card would be declined, and they actually intended to pay their bill when it was due, they didn’t have an intent to defraud, and thus can’t be guilty. Now, there may be a presumption of such an intent, though, and the cops may haul them in anyway, but a good lawyer should be able to beat the charges if they really truly intended to pay.
In Virginia, we have a “defraud an innkeeper” statute, which I believe covers this, and requires an “intent to defraud” to be present for a person to be guilty.
And what if a cop stops you on the drive home and asks for your license?
Here in Vegas, the crime is “defrauding an innkeeper,” which requires intent. If you order food or drinks from an establishment, knowing that you can’t pay, you absolutely can be arrested for it. The scenario in the OP doesn’t fit the crime description though, because he did intend to pay.
He better not be driving after racking up a $200 tab!
Sounds like the sort of thing you could resolve with a spare goat or gift card for the local blacksmith.
Exactly, the same way you would pay your doctor, though chickens are the normal medium of exchange.
What a great story to tell a traffic cop – “My bar tab was so high that my credit card was declined, and the only way they would let me leave the bar was to give them my driver’s license. Can you believe it? They threatened to call the cops on me!”
How is drinking beer or eating food and then not paying theft of services? You stole beer and food. Seems like theft to me. Theft of services would be not paying someone who cut your lawn or repaired your car.
That is just the name of the law, not the definition of it. You know, like how in the game of football, a player is allowed to carry the ball in his hands, not just his feet, but we are still ok with calling it football.
Google “theft of services” and several state laws will come up. Restaurants and hotels are often specifically mentioned in the laws, which of course vary state by state.
As others have commented, there must be the element of intent - that the person drinking the beer and eating the food intends not to pay for it, either by the “dine and dash”, or knowing that they have no means to pay.
Theft pure and simple has an intent requirement:
(My emphasis.)
That same intent requirement usually applies to the more particular offence theft of food and drink.
In the example given by the OP, the person had a debit card which he thought was valid and which he planned on using to pay for the food and drink. He therefore had no intention to steal.