Man Steals Other People's Drinks at South Beach Bar, Pretends to Be NYPD Officer

Miami Beach police have done the world a great service by putting Amadou Balde behind bars. His most grievous crime: stealing other people's drinks off a bar. We think we speak for all decent Miami Beach drinkers when say that when we pay for overpriced swill on the Beach, we...

By Kyle Munzenrieder

March 27, 2012

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Miami Beach police have done the world a great service by putting Amadou Balde behind bars. His most grievous crime: stealing other people's drinks off a bar. We think we speak for all decent Miami Beach drinkers when say that when we pay for overpriced swill on the Beach, we intend to drink it all, and anyone who interferes with our buzz is a detriment to humanity.

Balde, a 35-year-old resident of Chicago, was at Maxine's Bistro & Bar at 1756 Collins Ave. Sunday night when the trouble began. According to Local 10, he began collecting other people's unfinished drinks off the bar and pouring them into his own.

Besides the obvious rudeness, that's also pretty gross. Balde also allegedly shoved other patrons.

He was taken outside by bar security and promptly handcuffed by the MBPD, but Balde tried to escape arrest by saying he was a member of the NYPD. He claimed he had identification on him, but when police found nothing of the sort, he admitted he was lying.

Balde faces charges of impersonating a police officer, but let's not lose sight of the real crime here: The man wasted perfectly good booze.

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Kyle Munzenrieder

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