You wouldn’t refuse a coupon from an officer of the law, would you?
But what if the coupon is no good – and neither is the “officer’s” badge?
That was the dilemma facing a Florida cashier recently, in a situation that has finally ended with the would-be couponer’s arrest.
Police in Miami Beach say it all started a couple of months ago, when 64-year-old Reginal Chevalier went to a Smoothie King on a Wednesday evening, in the hopes of scoring a freebie. He “attempted to scan a coupon code on his phone” for a free smoothie, the criminal complaint reads, but it was actually “a photograph of an expired coupon.”
The cashier recognized that the coupon was not legit, “even though it scanned through the Smoothie King system.” So he refused the coupon, and Chevalier left without his free smoothie.
That seemed to be the end of that, until Chevalier returned – “this time with a badge,” the criminal complaint notes.
Flashing a police badge didn’t make his coupon any less expired, or any more legitimate. And it didn’t impress the cashier, who said he advised Chevalier “to either make a purchase or leave the establishment,” at which time Chevalier allegedly began yelling at him.
Then the cashier called the actual police. And Chevalier took off – with his badge and without his smoothie.
Police were able to identify Chevalier and his vehicle, and verify that he was not an officer of the law. And then they waited.
Chevalier lives in the city of Miami, about 30 miles from Miami Beach. A couple of weeks ago, he returned to Miami Beach, nearly seven weeks after the Smoothie King incident – and that’s when local police nabbed him.
“The defendant stated he has a police badge because he was auditioning for an acting part,” the criminal complaint reads. His acting apparently wasn’t good enough to convince anyone he was a police officer – or entitled to a free smoothie. So police arrested him on a felony charge of impersonating an officer. If convicted, he faces a potential penalty of up to five years imprisonment.
And the next time he wants to get a free smoothie, he’ll need to make sure he brings a real coupon – without the fake badge.
Image sources: Miami Beach Police / Smoothie King
