For one Florida man, paying full price for donuts and coffee is for suckers. So much so, that he went as far as impersonating an officer to get a measly 10 percent discount on his orders.
According to the Pasco County sheriff’s department, Chuck Barry entered the drive-thru at a Tampa Dunkin’ Donuts on Nov. 6 requesting a discount for being an officer, with a gold badge to boot. When the cashier refused to offer him a discount, Barry then flashed the .38 caliber revolver sitting in his holster and said, “See? I’m a cop.” Barry didn’t get his discount that day, but he was later arrested for impersonating an officer and improper exhibition of a firearm.
Of course, this wasn’t the first time Barry had tried the stunt. According to the Dunkin’ Donuts manager, Michelle Hoeltik, Barry came by several times before, between 9:30 and 9:50 a.m., claiming he was a U.S. Marshal and then a U.S. Air Marshal. The cheapskate even came in on weekends sometimes with his family requesting the discount, and sometimes it worked.
Hoeltik notified the sheriff’s deputy following the incident and gave police Barry’s license plate. When the idiot returned the next day — he must really love Dunkin’ Donuts — officers pulled him over and discovered a Morris County (New Jersey) Sheriff’s Office badge and a .38 pistol. The badge belonged to his father, a former deputy in Morris County.
“It’s okay to question,” Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco told the Tampa Bay Times. “It really is an issue that people out there are trying to play cops, and they could have done something crazy that could have hurt somebody. We’re thankful that it was just a cup of coffee.”
Barry was released after posting his $5,150 bail and went directly to Dunkin’ Donuts for a coffee. Just kidding! But chances are he probably did….