Best Buy has Man Arrested for using $2 Bills

[JakeM741]

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.

Have a nice day, Mike.

"Humiliating," the 57-year old Bolesta was saying now. "I am 6 feet 5 inches tall, and I felt like 8 inches high. To be handcuffed, to have all those people looking on, to be cuffed to a pole -- and to know you haven't done anything wrong. And me, with a brother, Joe, who spent 33 years on the city police force. It was humiliating."

What we have here, besides humiliation, is a sense of caution resulting in screw-ups all around.

"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."

He has lots and lots of them.

With his Capital City Student Tours, he arranges class trips for school kids around the country traveling to large East Coast cities, including Baltimore. He's been doing this for the last 18 years. He makes all the arrangements: hotels, meals, entertainment. And it's part of his schtick that, when Bolesta hands out meal money to students, he does it in $2 bills, which he picks up from his regular bank, Sun Trust.

"The kids don't see that many $2 bills, so they think this is the greatest thing in the world," Bolesta says. "They don't want to spend 'em. They want to save 'em. I've been doing this since I started the company. So I'm thinking, 'I'll stage my little comic protest. I'll pay the $114 with $2 bills.'"

At Best Buy, they may have perceived the protest -- but did not sense the comic aspect of 57 $2 bills.

"I'm just here to pay the bill," Bolesta says he told a cashier. "She looked at the $2 bills and told me, 'I don't have to take these if I don't want to.' I said, 'If you don't, I'm leaving. I've tried to pay my bill twice. You don't want these bills, you can sue me.' So she took the money. Like she's doing me a favor."

He remembers the cashier marking each bill with a pen. Then other store personnel began to gather, a few of them asking, "Are these real?"

"Of course they are," Bolesta said. "They're legal tender."

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. So the cops were called in. One officer noticed the bills ran in sequential order.

"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.'

"Meanwhile, everybody's looking at me. I've lived here 18 years. I'm hoping my kids don't walk in and see this. And I'm saying, 'I can't believe you're doing this. I'm paying with legal American money.'"

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."

This will be important news to all concerned.

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."

The other day, one of Bolesta's sons needed a few bucks. Bolesta pulled out his wallet and "whipped out a couple of $2 bills. But my son turned away. He said he doesn't want 'em any more."

He's seen where such money can lead.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/......ack=1&cset=true

This ones my favorite

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."

If you pay best buy with $2 bills, al queda wins!!

[islanq]

I really hope some one gets sued over this, or atleast gets fired.... Poor guy.

[Kurt]

Yea that sucks.. Same thing with http://milk.com/wall-o-shame/two_dollars.html

:rofl:

[yisman]

This ones my favorite

If you pay best buy with $2 bills, al queda wins!!

585740659[/snapback]

Yeah, I don't really get that. What do $2 bills have to do with terrorism?

[undeRliRcs]

"It's a sign that we're all a little PARANOID in the post-9/11 world."

[chmsant]

thats upsetting.... how sad

[Steffan]

I know that $2 bills were legal tender, but I didn't think they made them any more. I bet the cashier wasn't around when $2 bills were floating around like other bills today.

[sdb815]

People are so retarded, it boggles my mind when I think of all the people that don't even know that $2 bills are legal tender. :blink:

[undeRliRcs]

I know that $2 bills were legal tender, but I didn't think they made them any more.  I bet the cashier wasn't around when $2 bills were floating around like other bills today.

585740715[/snapback]

They were still common just a few years back, how uninformed can that cashier have been? I mean, com'on! :laugh:

[NeoMasamune]

Sucks to be him

[Hurmoth]

Poor guy :(

That link isn't working for me, but I found this though: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal...ack=1&cset=true

[jd957]

unbeliveable :rolleyes:

Your link: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/......ack=1&cset=true brings up the following. Forbidden

Your client is not allowed to access the requested object

someone beat me to the right link. :rofl:

[Xerus]

Man, that sucks. I have a bunch of 2 dollar bills, I used to think they were the rarest thing ever when I was a little kid. But what the hell, handcuffs? I mean who knows, he could have went from paying with 2 dollar bills to shooting up the place.

[Brandon Live Veteran]

Yeah, I don't really get that. What do $2 bills have to do with terrorism?

585740700[/snapback]

Making a joke involving federal property (money) is a "thought crime" under Bush imperial law which defines such activity as "un-American" and says that pranks are the work of "Godless liberals" trying to poison your mind ...

I mean, "Homeland Security."

Or something.

[linsook]

lol, thats so sad.. for the cashiers

[mercuryx013]

I would expect nothing less out of one of the worst stores on the planet, Best Buy.

[kingbob]

Hahaha. Both of those stories are great. :D

[2xSilverKnight]

yeah people are paranoid about 9/11 who has been organized by their own governement.

[ev0|]

Poor guy :(

That link isn't working for me, but I found this though: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal...ack=1&cset=true

585740730[/snapback]

I'm all for him suing Best Buy, I hate that greedy company.

[dotRoot]

Wow. BestBuy really needs to make this up to him. Even before the cashier could have noticed the ink smearing, they refused. I mean even without the $2 bills in the story, BestBuy still acted inappropriate.

[AcdShdw]

thats just pathetic , hope somone gets screwed for that, infact ya know what screw best buy they suck

[DouglasLWarren]

Just proves that Best Buy is full of a bunch of ****-ups!...I REALLY hate that place.

[smaulz]

stupidity rocks....

[JakeM741]

yeah people are paranoid about 9/11 who has been organized by their own governement.

585740741[/snapback]

well that was one of the most ignorant things ive seen in a long time

[Shane Pitman]

Sadly this doesn't surprise me. Until you've butted heads with the federal government and the current legal system in the United States, it's hard to understand just how unjust this nation really is. Don't get me wrong, I love the people, my neighbors, my community, but the people in control have too much power and they only want more. I'd leave if I could.

Edit: Best Buy acted inappropriate? What about the police? What happened to innocent until proven guilty? They carted him off to jail and held him until he was proven to be innocent.