Man steals doughnut, May face 30 years to life in prison!!
 

(AP) A Missouri man could potentially face a 30-year prison sentence for stealing a doughnut from a store.

Scott A. Masters, 41, of Park Hills, Missouri, has been charged with felony second-degree robbery in the theft of a 52-cent doughnut from a Country Mart in Farmington, about 70 miles south of St. Louis. Store employees said he slipped the doughnut into his sweat shirt without paying last December, then pushed away a clerk who tried to stop him as he fled the store.

The push is being treated as minor assault, which transforms a misdemeanor shoplifting charge into a strong-armed robbery with a potential prison term of five to 15 years. Given Masters' past criminal record, prosecutors could boost that sentence to 30 years to life.

"Strong-arm robbery? Over a doughnut? That's impossible," Masters told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper from jail. He admitted that he took the pastry but denied touching the female employee. "I've never had a violent crime in my life. And there's no way I would've pushed a woman over a doughnut."

Farmington Police Chief Rick Baker said state law treats the shoplifting and assault as forcibly stealing property. The amount of force and value of the property does not matter.

"It's not the doughnut," Baker said. "It's the assault."

Masters, who has been arrested more than a dozen times for crimes ranging from shoplifting to drug possession to torching a car for insurance fraud, said he forgot about the doughnut theft as he spent the summer in jail on outstanding warrants.

He was indicted Sept. 14 for the robbery and is being held on $25,000 bail after having his case continued on Friday. With two prior felony convictions, Masters could face a long prison sentence if found guilty because prosecutors could pursue an enhanced sentence.

County Prosecutor Wendy Wexler Horn said it was "way too early to know how it is going to play out," but that the charge seemed appropriate given the store employees' allegations. She acknowledged some are questioning the seriousness of the charge.

"People are missing the point," Horn said. "It is not about the doughnut."

For Masters' part, he did not even get to enjoy his ill-gotten gains. He said he threw the doughnut away as he fled.

-CBS News Article-

He deservers the 30 years for being a real idiot...darwin would have loved this story !

I bet he wishes he at least ate the doughnut now...

It's worth a year in jail at the most.
Hungry MoFo's steal food, don't make them realize it's better to just shoot somebody and take the whole register since it's the same jail time, because they will.

WTF?30 years for doughnut?You can get doughnut for free here.

why didn't he just eat the donut in the store?

Yeah, but this one had the extra powdered sugar on top with premium cut hole in the middle.

you steal a donut - cops take it personally, he's lucky they didn't slip 10 packets of cocaine in his pockets when they arrested him

Double post.

:1orglaugh

let that shhiiiet slide yoo

No, they just made up the part about him pushing the employee - good enough for 30 years in jail :2 cents:

Save the cocaine packets for someone stealing a donut truck...

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

That'll teach him.

This happened in Farmington? Better call the strike team :1orglaugh
http://tvmedia.ign.com/tv/image/arti...6045322892.jpg

okay, no donut is that delicious. :)

Yes i know Croatian and American doughnuts are different.

Considering he has a pretty foul record, he'll take what they give him.

I doubt his character will stand up to much.

I'm not here to judge anybody, but that is one foolish dolt.

:1orglaugh

hahah fucking great but anyway yeah it is about the damn doughnut, maybe she tried to stop him and he pulled away or even bumped her. If he is not on probation then i'm sure his record will not help but 30 years is just stupid.

pathetic ... viva america

in some country they cut you a hand an a foot when you steal

I wonder what kind of doughnut it was. If it was one with sprinkles on it, it was worth the risk.

MmMmmmmmm... Doughnut....

AggghhhhhGGGggghHHhh...

That's exactly what should happen. Lets put someone into an already overcrowded jail because he jacked a doughnut. This is crazy. As dumb as the dude is, he should go to jail for any extended period of time, maybe something like tent city for maybe a month or two if that.

I can understand though. An example must be made otherwise the other pastry theives might get ballsier.

Well at least he won't have to steal to eat anymore.

What a moron.

you don't fuck with the donut squad

Ignoring the idiot who stole and the idiot prosecutor - it is about a doughnut and really dumb laws being bent to match a scenario. It takes a gifted idiot to dream that up - congrats the the County Prosecutor, Wendy Wexler Horn :1orglaugh

Maybe the judge will have more sense.... maybe...

The guy sounds like a professional lifelong criminal. He deserves whatever they give him. It would be fair though in my opinion if they plead him down toa year or so with the provision that he now has the equivalent of two and a half strikes, and that any more felony offenses no matter how small will get him the 30 years to life that a three striker earns.

no he doesnt

let him steal more 30 cent doughnuts.. wtf who cares!! let him find a job for fuck sakes, why put him in jail and thats gonna cost you tax payers a few $$$$

Maybe they should just fine him $220,000 dollars.

True - if you assume the average cost of incarceration is around $40K - (ranges from $25k-$60K, depending what lies are told) - and an idiot judge ever gave a 30 year sentence, - that would cost taxpayers $1,200,000.

Sounds like a bargain for a .52 cent doughnut and protects society from doughnut theives :winkwink:

don't mess with the pigs donuts!

its fucking sad :(

He committed assault over a donut. Wow.

Well I hope he enjoy'd it.

Did someone say "Only in America.."?

I say the dumb bitch employee should never have confronted the man over a 52 cent doughnut in the first place.

Here this woman is working a minimum wage job, and her property value threshold to attempt to apprehend a shoplifter is 50 cents or less. Sorry, you are not the security manager at Best Buy, and he's not trying to walk out with a $10,000 plasma. Just let him walk.

http://www.imookie.com/files/DonutShopCops.jpg

ADG

Nah, he didn't download 10 doughnuts and give 100,000 copies of them out for free like the thief you are alluding to.