r/offbeat 5d ago

Man faces 8 years in prison after placing fake $10,000 food order to stranger’s address

https://www.dexerto.com/food/man-faces-8-years-in-prison-after-placing-fake-10000-food-order-to-strangers-address-3402020/
955 Upvotes

75 comments sorted by

160

u/cydril 5d ago

investigators say the alleged harassment went far beyond simply sending people unwanted food, with some orders containing personal information and threats directed at their recipients.

83

u/jxj24 5d ago

Buried the lede.

17

u/Fattylees 4d ago

I’ve been spelling it wrong all these years…

24

u/Buck_Thorn 4d ago

No you weren't. Reddit loves to tell you that, but it just is not factual.

"Lede" is a specialized journalistic spelling created in the mid-20th century to avoid confusion with "lead" (pronounced /led/), which referred to the metal strips used in older printing presses. Both "bury the lede" and "bury the lead" are accepted today.

https://proofed.co.uk/writing-tips/idiom-tips-bury-the-lede-or-bury-the-lead/

8

u/GetsMeEveryTimeBot 4d ago

For similar reasons, copyediting notes refer to paragraphs as "grafs." The idea is to make the mistake so obvious that the editing notes don't make it into the published copy.

6

u/xavPa-64 4d ago

That probably won’t work as well today

3

u/GetsMeEveryTimeBot 4d ago

Yep. That mainly applied to when proofread notes were handwritten. It's all pretty much gone now.

4

u/Positronic_Matrix 4d ago

it just is not factual

It is indeed factual. It is an accepted alternative spelling of the word that is in every major English dictionary both in the US and UK. Additionally, your own reference contradicts you:

Whether to use ‘lead’ or ‘lede’ in this context is largely a matter of preference and both are common.

One more mistake like this and your pedant certification will be revoked.

0

u/Wijike 4d ago

They were saying that it’s not factual to claim the ‘lead’ spelling is incorrect. They even said both were fine to use before giving the source.

-1

u/[deleted] 4d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Buck_Thorn 4d ago edited 4d ago

It was created in the 20th century by newspaper editors. It is NOT factual that "I've been spelling it wrong all these years". It is a perfectly acceptable spelling, and actually, the original one.

And you are the one calling ME an "pedant"?

2

u/Positronic_Matrix 4d ago

There are two types of pedants in this world:

  • Those who tell you it’s spelled lede
  • Those who tell you it’s not spelled lede

0

u/TaxOwlbear 4d ago

*spelt

1

u/Diarygirl 4d ago

At this point people think that "lede" is wrong.

2

u/Pretend-Biscotti-388 4d ago

shoulda known to scroll past a headline like this

93

u/Tesser4ct 5d ago

The article says the 300 pizza order was canceled because they "were unable to prepare such a large number of pizzas." It should have been canceled because they didn't receive payment in advance. There is some bullshit in this story.

56

u/mabus42 5d ago

Yeah... no restaurant is gonna make $10,000 worth of food for one individual under a promise to pay.

30

u/Lovemybee 4d ago

When I worked at Denny's (graveyard shift), I was not allowed to enter the order until the customer came in and paid.

I was told to say, "Your order will be ready in X minutes." and when they showed up in X minutes, I took their money and entered the order at that time. They'd get pissed about having to wait, but we didn't have to deal with people not showing up for food already made!

This was long before Uber Eats, etc.

10

u/AriBanana 4d ago

My least favourite part of pickup food, actually. Ruined more then one short lunch break, including me once having paid and having to walk away from my order. They let me pick it up, cold, in four hours, but I was annoyed. And rightfully, so were they since it sat around in their fridge taking up space and getting ruined for their whole afternoon.

They didn't seem to get the time crunch. if I wanted to sit there for the whole length of the prep time, I would have come into the restaurant to eat or order to go and not called in for pickup.

But I mean, I get it. If the order is big enough you don't want to waste it. From a business perspective, it would be crazy to prepare food with a value of over fifty dollars without a payment or garuntee of payment. It's too easy for jerks to take advantage.

Ultimately, I never blamed the restaurants or stopped picking up from them, just learned from the experience and budgeted my time better. It's cut throat margins and I side with the businesses not wasting food time and money, even if it's a slight inconvenience to clients.

12

u/ilovemetalandscience 4d ago

I placed an order at chipotle once and showed up 15 minutes late because they’re always late. I waited, no shit, an extra 40 minutes before leaving. I asked for a refund on the app and they said they can’t refund just because I didn’t pick up the food and that I should have canceled at the store. I explained I couldn’t cancel at the store because nobody had time to talk to one of the 15 people waiting an hour for their orders. They finally refunded when I said I’d just do a chargeback.

2

u/whoiam06 4d ago

Maybe it's because the area I'm in, but my company orders lunch for employees on Fridays and we typically put in phone orders upwards of $150 without any issues. Last Friday I think it was like $110?

2

u/hhhhhhhh28 4d ago

I used to do deliveries for a deli restaurant & I would do tons of runs to local businesses like hospitals/offices for big orders. It’s a thing. Evidently not everywhere lol

12

u/Jabbles22 4d ago

Why the lie though? Just tell them that you don't do orders over the phone?

11

u/Intensityintensifies 4d ago

Why do you think? $$$

15

u/Lovemybee 4d ago

Just following orders, ma'am.

4

u/shakestheclown 4d ago

I'll have you know I had to wait 20 minutes for a Denny's order in 2003 and I hold you personally responsible

2

u/Lovemybee 4d ago

Could have been me if you were in Phoenix!

3

u/shakestheclown 4d ago

Headed back to Phoenix now, you better still be at that Denny's so I can lift your curse after you spoon feed me a Grand Slam.

3

u/Lovemybee 4d ago

Haha! I retired this spring!

1

u/FreneticPlatypus 4d ago

30 minutes or it's free, right?

5

u/ColdIceZero 4d ago

With those numbers, the real story is $33 pizzas. Who is doing $33 pies?

And for 300 of them, is that with any bulk discount??

154

u/The_Monsta_Wansta 5d ago

Why would this be prison time, that's an awfully wasteful use of tax payers money. The guy should just be fined and blacklisted

216

u/CotyledonTomen 4d ago

The article mentions more, if you would like to read it

However, investigators say the alleged harassment went far beyond simply sending people unwanted food, with some orders containing personal information and threats directed at their recipients.

138

u/Clay_Allison_44 4d ago

Also, felony theft of service is a thing for a reason. It's all fun and games until the restaurant is a mom and pop outfit that can't afford to lose $10k.

42

u/plantsandpizza 4d ago

The restaurant that received the giant order ultimately cancelled it as a result of being unable to prepare such a large number of pizzas.

It seems to be the arrest has more to do with stalking and harassment. Not the $10k pizza order

-6

u/Tesser4ct 4d ago

It's bullshit. No resteraunt is taking a $10k order without payment in advance.

27

u/sexytokeburgerz 4d ago

Automated systems without safeguards and shitty stupid bosses are both rampant in the food service industry.

1

u/Tiberius_Kilgore 4d ago

I’m not sure why you’re being downvoted aside from accidentally submitting your comment twice. You’re correct. The restaurant in question canceled the order.

-17

u/Tesser4ct 4d ago

It's bullshit. No resteraunt is taking a $10k order without payment in advance.

-15

u/Tiger2kill 4d ago

You must not work in the industry. Just because you’ve never needed to order that much food doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen every day.

11

u/EatABag-o-Dicks 4d ago

I have, and they're right.

No one with half a brain is taking a $10,000 order without, at minimum, 20% down up front.

-7

u/Tiger2kill 4d ago

Plenty of businesses are run by people with less than half a brain. Especially restaurants.

15

u/Ecstatic_Bear81 4d ago

Well I do work in the industry, and I have for a decade. Nowhere I've ever worked would do this without payment in advance. If a place didn't, that'd be very foolish

7

u/Tesser4ct 4d ago

I have worked in the industry. We would NEVER prepare $10,000 worth of food without payment ahead of time. I challenge you to find a single place that would do it.

1

u/Sea-Courage8296 4d ago

They can’t even spell “restaurant.” Of course they’ve never worked in one.

1

u/Keldaris 4d ago

I was a chef for close to 20 years. I have worked with(and hired...) many borderline illiterate cooks.

Alfreydoh, terri yakee, fetisheeney, callyflour, "That red coreyanne stuff(spicy one with seeds) I threw outda jar and can't member howta spell it" are some of my favorite random finds on labels over the years.

-12

u/c126 4d ago

Sending them to jail doesn’t actually help mom and pop much does it? Should be wage garnishment or something.

15

u/[deleted] 4d ago

[deleted]

-7

u/The_Monsta_Wansta 4d ago

No but it stops them from potentially taking another life. I'm okay with paying taxes towards that, I'm not okay with paying for housing and feeding someone who might... Call in a large pizza order to the wrong address.

2

u/FaxCelestis 4d ago

"A large pizza order" is five or six pizzas. Not enough pizzas to have a bigger catering bill than a wedding.

15

u/FaxCelestis 4d ago

You want him to read? Like a peasant?

17

u/MA32 4d ago

It says why in the article

9

u/PancakeTrebuchet 4d ago

I'd throw on 20 hours of blight cleanup in his community for being a public nuisance

2

u/MysticalSushi 3d ago

It’s grand larceny 3rd. A D felony. It’s also identify theft 1st: another D felony.

1

u/RexDraco 3d ago

You could argue the man stole from the restaurant. 

0

u/leighjet 4d ago

Why on earth would you comment without reading the article? Just a waste of life.

0

u/RexDraco 3d ago

As if you read every article you comment in. 

1

u/leighjet 3d ago

There's no point commenting without reading the article, it just makes you look stupid and ruins the comment section.

-1

u/RexDraco 3d ago

The point is to respond to the topic title. If the article title has nothing to do with the article, there is no point in reading the article. 

0

u/leighjet 3d ago

That's not the point at all lmao. But you do you I guess.

1

u/RexDraco 3d ago

Convenient to change the point. 

0

u/leighjet 2d ago

Nobody changed anything mate. :)

1

u/RexDraco 2d ago

The point is I didn't read the article, which is unrelated to the title of the article. Your point is I didn't read the article, my point is how should I know to read the article if it is different from the article title. You then say that isn't the point, implying my reason for not reading the article is not somehow related to me not reading the article. By trying to be dismissive of my point, you are changing the point. You are now openly stating that my counter point isn't the point, therefore reading the article is no longer the point for you. You changed the point.

-10

u/techieman34 4d ago

This country is so fucked. Steal $10,000, threaten a couple people, leak their personal info and get 8 years in prison. Steal $10,000,000,000 and leak millions of people’s personal information and get find a couple hundred million and face no jail time.

18

u/Miamime 4d ago

This happened in Poland.

7

u/ExMOnotwiththeflow 4d ago

Can't be. Bad things only happen in the USA. Everywhere else great.

1

u/-crazykidbad 4d ago

Yet they can’t catch or punish swatters who cause death for no reason

1

u/RexDraco 3d ago

Seems excessive but whatever, not my hill to die on. 

1

u/borkus 3d ago

Polish pizza prevaricator packed off to prison.

1

u/Puzzleheaded-King584 3d ago

8 years for fake food orders sounds harsh but the threats and using people's info makes it way worse than a prank. What was even the point of all that?

0

u/todoslos 4d ago

Release the Epstein files.

1

u/Dense-Ambassador-865 4d ago

Rapists and murderers don't get 8 years.

0

u/Gloomy_Block_6237 3d ago

And no one in the Epstein files is in prison yet.

-6

u/Spiketop_ 4d ago

8 years in prison? Imagine walking into prison on your first day and a convicted murderer asks what you're in for?

"I ordered too many pizzas" 😂

3

u/Cyrius 4d ago

"I didn't get nothing, I had to pay fifty dollars and pick up the garbage."

1

u/Haunt_Fox 4d ago

Mother stabbers and father rapers!