Tourist Jailed in NYC When He Can't Pay Bill

An Italian lawyer spent Monday night in a New York City jail because he didn't have his wallet when his $208 bill arrived at a swanky steak restaurant. Both the New York Post ("Mama Mia!") and the Daily News ("Crime Rib") love the tale. Graziano Graziussi says he offered to leave his iPhone as collateral and suggested the restaurant send a bus boy with him to retrieve his money, but the staff at Smith & Wollensky—and soon the NYPD—weren't having it.

“I found it completely unreasonable to call the police when I was coming up with possible solutions,” he tells the Post. “I wasn’t going to run away. I was there, I had just forgotten my wallet." A judge released him the next morning and dismissed the dine-and-dash charges after he promised to pay up next week, reports the Honest Cooking blog. (More New York City stories.)