[Eug Wanker]

Man arrested, handcuffed, and locked up for trying to use legal tender at BestBuy (bugmenot.com is your friend)

PUT YOURSELF in Mike Bolesta's place. On the morning of Feb. 20, he buys a new radio-CD player for his 17-year-old son Christopher's car. He pays the $114 installation charge with 57 crisp new $2 bills, which, when last observed, were still considered legitimate currency in the United States proper. The $2 bills are Bolesta's idea of payment, and his little comic protest, too.

For this, Bolesta, Baltimore County resident, innocent citizen, owner of Capital City Student Tours, finds himself under arrest.

Finds himself, in front of a store full of customers at the Best Buy on York Road in Lutherville, locked into handcuffs and leg irons.

Finds himself transported to the Baltimore County lockup in Cockeysville, where he's handcuffed to a pole for three hours while the U.S. Secret Service is called into the case.

"When I bought the stereo player," Bolesta explains, "the technician said it'd fit perfectly into my son's dashboard. But it didn't. So they called back and said they had another model that would fit perfectly, and it was cheaper. We got a $67 refund, which was fine. As long as it fit, that's all.

"So we go back and pay for it, and they tell us to go around front with our receipt and pick up the difference in the cost. I ask about installation charges. They said, 'No installation charge, because of the mix-up. Our mistake, no charge.' Swell.

"But then, the next day, I get a call at home. They're telling me, 'If you don't come in and pay the installation fee, we're calling the police.' Jeez, where did we go from them admitting a mistake to suddenly calling the police? So I say, 'Fine, I'll be in tomorrow.' But, overnight, I'm starting to steam a little. It's not the money -- it's the threat. So I thought, I'll count out a few $2 bills."

Oh and:

One officer noticed the bills ran in sequential order. <--

[Socially Awkward Solo]

Charming.

[Deimos]

Based on the snippet above, that's pretty screwed up.

Fools.

[wolfen]

Yeah, well, you can't be too lenient when it comes to terrorism.

Bolesta? Doesn't sound like an American name to me. Freakin' immigrants.

Go back to wherever you came from, "Mike" Bolesta!

[Deimos]

Originally posted by wolfen:
Yeah, well, you can't be too lenient when it comes to terrorism.

Bolesta? Doesn't sound like an American name to me. Freakin' immigrants.

Go back to wherever you came from, "Mike" Bolesta!

LOL

[Eug Wanker]

A Best Buy manager refused comment last week. But, according to a Baltimore County police arrest report, suspicions were roused when an employee noticed some smearing of ink.

"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,'" Bolesta says. "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.'

Bolesta was then taken to the county police lockup in Cockeysville, where he sat handcuffed to a pole and in leg irons while the Secret Service was called in.

"At this point," he says, "I'm a mass murderer."

Finally, Secret Service agent Leigh Turner arrived, examined the bills and said they were legitimate, adding, according to the police report, "Sometimes ink on money can smear."

[demograph68]

Another -1 for Best Buy.

[BoomStick]

I hope they are ready to be sued.

You can get piles of $2 bills at any post office.

They carry Susan B quart...er....dollars and the new Sacashi† gold colored dollars.

[budster101]

Best Buy sucks and hires inbred morons.

[E's Lil Theorem]

Lawsuit? Doesn't sound like the guy would do it for the money but more for the "up-yours" effect.

[budster101]

I hope he makes MILLIONS.

[Will V.]

It's against the law to refuse legitimate U.S. currency as payment for a debt.

[wolfen]

Squirrels

[RonnieoftheRose]

Stupid ****ing 'free' country.

[demograph68]

Originally posted by Will V.:
It's against the law to refuse legitimate U.S. currency as payment for a debt.

Unless it's counterfeit. The cashier probably thought it was.

[budster101]

Originally posted by demograph68:
Unless it's counterfeit. The cashier probably thought it was.

Requirements to work for BEST BUY.

- IQ of less than 70.
- Must be hard working and able to take orders
- Must be willing to work after hours without pay to shop out competition
- Must be willing to pretend to be knowledgeable about whatever department you are tossed in
- Must hard sell all warantees
- If IQ goes above 70 at any point in employment, this is grounds for being dismissed
- If IQ drops suddenly, then Management Training is in the cards

[wolfen]

Originally posted by wolfen:
Yeah, well, you can't be too lenient when it comes to terrorism.


Bolesta? Doesn't sound like an American name to me. Freakin' immigrants.

Go back to wherever you came from, "Mike" Bolesta!

You people do realize this is a joke, right? I find it funny when simpletons say such things -- and they do.

[Link]

I hope he sues. That's just horrid, and to think they did that because he USED TWO DOLLAR BILLS.. sheesh!

[Oisín]

Originally posted by wolfen:
You people do realize this is a joke, right?

Of course - both times

[wolfen]

Originally posted by Oisín:
Of course - both times

HEEEeeeeeeeyy! I can't believe that happened, again! Jeeez...now I gotta edit...

[JohnSmithXTREME]

was this story dated 1 april by any chance?

[budster101]

I still can't stand Best Buy.

Maybe that is why I fell for it.

[cpt kangarooski]

Eug Wanker--

One officer noticed the bills ran in sequential order. <-- [/B]

Not unusual. Since $2 bills don't circulate much, the best way to get them is to specially order them. You can even buy uncut sheets. So it's not hard to imagine how one would get a lot of sequentially numbered bills.

The Woz has been known to buy sheets of $2 bills, cut them, and apply notepad glue, so as to make a pad, from which he can peel off however many bills are required. You can see a $1 version of this here.

[Zimphire]

Originally posted by RonnieoftheRose:
Stupid ****ing 'free' country.

Stupid ****ing "people" that can't differentiate a country from a corperation.

[Deimos]

I think the SS (Secret Service) also behaved disgustingly in this.

So much power, so many abuses of it.

[esXXI]

Originally posted by cpt kangarooski:
Eug Wanker--
[...] The Woz has been known to buy sheets of $2 bills, cut them, and apply notepad glue, so as to make a pad, from which he can peel off however many bills are required. You can see a $1 version of this here.

That's just neat.

[d4nth3m4n]

Originally posted by cpt kangarooski:

The Woz has been known to buy sheets of $2 bills, cut them, and apply notepad glue, so as to make a pad, from which he can peel off however many bills are required. You can see a $1 version of this here.

there was a guy at the bar the other day with a pad of $2 bills. pretty trippy to see. real cool idea, but man, were flags flying when he handed me a bill.

[fromthecloud]

Originally posted by demograph68:
Unless it's counterfeit. The cashier probably thought it was.

Well, if it's counterfeit, then it's not legitimate. Duh.

[TheJoshu]

Originally posted by wolfen:
Yeah, well, you can't be too lenient when it comes to terrorism.

Bolesta? Doesn't sound like an American name to me. Freakin' immigrants.

Go back to wherever you came from, "Mike" Bolesta!

Bolesta? Didn't that cause anal leakage?

[demograph68]

Originally posted by fromthecloud:
Well, if it's counterfeit, then it's not legitimate. Duh.

No ****.

[macaddict0001]

Originally posted by budster101:
Best Buy sucks and hires inbred morons.

I Thought that they hired anyone with two legs who was white?

[Goldfinger]

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
"But then, the next day, I get a call at home. They're telling me, 'If you don't come in and pay the installation fee, we're calling the police.'

That's the most disturbing part of it all.

[phantomdragonz]

anyone ever heard the one about the taco bell employee and the $2 bill! ahh I will have to try and find it...


EDIT:: FOUND IT, Snopes article too!

Zach

[storer]

I'm glad I live in Australia.

[Mafia]

this is absolutely absurd. F*ck best buy.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally posted by cpt kangarooski:
Not unusual. Since $2 bills don't circulate much, the best way to get them is to specially order them. You can even buy uncut sheets. So it's not hard to imagine how one would get a lot of sequentially numbered bills.

The Woz has been known to buy sheets of $2 bills, cut them, and apply notepad glue, so as to make a pad, from which he can peel off however many bills are required. You can see a $1 version of this here.

Yes I know. I just thought it was strange that the officer would worry about that. I often get sequential bills just from the bank machine. Maybe if they had the same serial number I'd be worried.

P.S. Woz is so weird... and cool at the same time.

P.P.S. The US should just get rid of the $1 and $2 bills. Make them coins like up here in Canadanada

[olePigeon]

Originally posted by budster101:
I hope he makes MILLIONS.

Then ask for the payment in sequential $2 bills.

[FulcrumPilot]

funny stuff!!!

[Apple Pro Underwear]

i like counting my dollars and then throwing them at prostitute's faces

coins just wouldn't be the same

(i'm drubk)

[Angus_D]

Originally posted by demograph68:
No ****.

Uh, you're an idiot. The OP said "legal US tender", and you replied with "unless it's counterfeit". If it's counterfeit, then it's not legal. Your use of unless is therefore nonsensical and illegitimate, hence the correction.

If it was so obvious, why did you say otherwise in the first place?

[ThinkInsane]

I once had a cashier at a grocery store refuse to take a two-dollar bill because "Like, there's no such thing?"*

*How is it that teenage girls always manage to turn every statement into a question?

[brapper]

Originally posted by Apple Pro Underwear:
i like counting my dollars and then throwing them at prostitute's faces

coins just wouldn't be the same

(i'm drubk)

hahahahaha
(me too...)

[rezzi]

Ink on a bill may ocassionally smear. Espescially when you're trying to smear it.

[C.A.T.S. CEO]

if you come with something "diffrent" and the goverment comes and arrestes you.
some people are jest dicks.

[demograph68]

Originally posted by Angus_D:
Uh, you're an idiot. The OP said "legal US tender", and you replied with "unless it's counterfeit". If it's counterfeit, then it's not legal. Your use of unless is therefore nonsensical and illegitimate, hence the correction.

If it was so obvious, why did you say otherwise in the first place?

Must be because I'm an idiot. My bad.

[Gankdawg]

http://www.bestbuysux.org

[Kilbey]

A casino in the upper Peninsula of Michigan gives out $2 bills as change. It's their "trademark".

I have never had problems with spending a $2 before. I do like the $1 coins. I wish they would catch on more.

I have worked as a cashier for a couple years and I once saw a $1000 bill spent. The manager bought it from the store and sold it to a coin collector for quite a profit.

[KeriVit]

Originally posted by Angus_D:
Uh, you're an idiot. The OP said "legal US tender", and you replied with "unless it's counterfeit". If it's counterfeit, then it's not legal. Your use of unless is therefore nonsensical and illegitimate, hence the correction.

If it was so obvious, why did you say otherwise in the first place?

Woah! Relax! Leave demo alone. He's not an idiot. A correction is fine.

[macroy]

Baltimore's finest -

'For Baltimore County police, said spokesman Bill Toohey, "It's a sign that we're all a little nervous in the post-9/11 world."'

that makes it okay then?

Yea, I can understand folks being a bit more careful these days... but it seems that 9/11 is being used as an excuse a bit too excessively. Not to mention most of the reactive measures only give us a false sense of security (but that's another topic).

And you would think being more "cautious" would lead to one making less mistakes.

[Xeo]

Originally posted by Zimphire:
Stupid ****ing "people" that can't differentiate a country from a corperation.

Actually, the police arrived to investigate and hauled the guy away in cuffs. So it isn't just Best Buy at fault. Police are civil servants, paid by tax dollars. Works of the government (however, I agree they aren't "the country").

Originally posted by Deimos:
I think the SS (Secret Service) also behaved disgustingly in this.

So much power, so many abuses of it.

Seems to me that they were the ones to straighten it out and even take his side once they arrived.