http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.olesker08mar08,1,76004.column?ctrack=1&cset=true

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.

[the money quote:]

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.

Best Buy's customer service is dismal, even for an electronics store, but this is lawsuit worthy.

About that money quote: Huh?! Did the 9-11 terrorists pay for their flight lessons with $2 bills or am I missing something? I thought Bush was the only one who could use 9-11 to justify incompetent use of govt authority.

lol ... 9/11 eh? What, he expected someone to make a paper plane out of them and crash into the nearest shelf?

Here's the lesson for all y'all: never shop at Best Buy. They hire the most incompetent people in the world.

Incompetent but oh so patriotic. Rather like our fearless leaders.

The man should sue for 100 million 2 dollar bills.

I don't really understand the grounds on which they detained him ... let alone handcufed him?

They thought he had counterfeit money. That's why the Sikrit Service got involved.

I understand that ... but since when does have bills with serial numbers in order have anything to do with counterfiet money? Anyone should know a damn bank gives out ordered bills ...

Normally if someone robs a bank they can report certain serial numbers missing ... but these numbers couldn't have been reported as they were real ... to have to call the secret service is ridiculious.

That's what makes this so absurd. The Best Buy employees and the local cops couldn't tell the difference between real money and fake money. So they erred on the side of ARRESTING the guy and hauling him down the to police station, apparently due to paranoia from 9-11.

Maybe Mike V. can tell us if this qualifies as a wrongful arrest case.

Admittedly, there's always two sides to any story, but I really think it was the Best Buy's employees' incompetentness that got him into trouble. The 9-11 line was really stupid too. "Today I locked the door in my apartment. Why? Because of 9/11!"

I am starting to be embarassed of calling myself an American because of incidents like these.

I think it was Best Buy's gross incompetence at first. But at least the local police should have been able to distinguish between real money and counterfeit. And if they were unsure, why did they arrest him and haul him down to the station where they handcuffed him in leg irons to a pole?

A wrongful arrest suit would go against the cops, however, because Best Buy didn't technially detain the man that I'm aware of.

I'd say this guy has a case against Best Buy. I'd take the case.

Mike V if I ever get arrested you can be damn sure I am calling you for some pro bono work

Hey Mike, if this happens to me, I don't want my one free call. I want my one free post here. You come and rescue me and then we sue their asses and become millionaires!

I'd the sue the life out of them.

Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?

I would take this case and I'm not even a lawyer.

What a bunch a dumb (blanks). Fill in blanks with whatever word you find useful. I will use Dumb Jamoks.

What the guy did with this $2 bill idea was kind of lame and silly, but I can kind of understand it. This guy was treated badly to say the least. Not just when he came to pay, but through the whole experience. Calling him at his house to tell them they will call the police? Come on.

He was offered Free Installation. If he wasn't, they would have never let him exit the store without paying the first time.

I also find comparing this goofy case to a Post 911 world in poor taste and just plain ridiculous.

Handcuffs and Leg Irons? Most shoplifters don't get that. Not even this. But, instead of escorting him to the security room, they leave him in front of the store? Who was working security at this location? Barney Fief and Jack Tripper? You would think this guy entered the store nude in nothing but $2 bills carrying an ooze. The quote sounds even worse coming from a police department. Though with the Best Buy Customer Service Staff, an ooze wouldn't surprise me. Joke in poor taste, I know. But, tough.

This warns us all of one thing. No one is 100% safe from stupidity. Things like this do concern me. I mean god forbid I go to Best Buy and pay with a Buffalo Nickle.

No kidding. I wish something like this would happen to me!

Me too. For a couple of millions, I'm willing to deal with such humilation.

We agree more than we disagree these days.

Must be one of the first effects of that hole drilled in the earth's crust

As no one has mentioned this - I will point out one thing from the middle of the story.

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 personally have never had a bill that was smearing ink.

This has to be one of the most assinine things I've ever read... All they had to do was check with the guy's Bank in clearing this up if what he said was in fact true.. Once it was cleared, if it was ever cleared up, I would sue BEST BUY so bad, that they'd end up calling the place BKB BUY when I got done with them.. I'd sue them til they were dead..

Whoa, calm down. Don't you all know that $2 bills were integral in the 9/11 attacks? The terrorists used 2 dollar bills to hijack the plane...and um...The world trade towers were made of 2 dollar bills :???: