Brock baffled by restaurant calling cops

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Raheem Brock was arrested last week for allegedly skipping out on a restaurant check, and at first he refused to talk about what happened.

But now Brock is talking — and he says he’s shocked that the restaurant called the police and shocked that the police arrested him. According to Brock, he was more than happy to pay his bill, but the restaurant kicked him out before he could.

Brock told TMZ that he, his cousin and a female friend went to the restaurant and placed an order, but when the friend said she would rather run across the street to get a cheesesteak at another place, they briefly left while Brock’s cousin waited at the restaurant. When they came back and were told they couldn’t bring the cheesesteak in, they decided to cancel their food order and leave.

According to Brock, he didn’t know the restaurant objected to him leaving until the police stopped him, and as soon as the police did stop him he offered to pay the bill, even though he hadn’t eaten any food. That differs from previous reports that Brock refused to pay his bar bill. Brock says he talked to the manager of the restaurant and found him to be unreasonable.

“While I was in ‘cuffs, I explained to the manager that I own restaurants . . . and if there’s a policy about paying for food that hasn’t come out . . . then it should have been explained to us before we left.”

We’re only getting Brock’s side of the story here, but his side of the story sounds pretty reasonable. The restaurant has declined to give its side of the story, in which Brock may not sound so reasonable.

51 responses to “Brock baffled by restaurant calling cops

  1. i work in a restaurant and if a table leaves before their food is taken to them, its a loss for the business, and will get pitched or bought up by the cook staff. the servers dont go chase them down demanding that they pay for food they havent eaten or even been served. if brocks side of the story is the truth, it doesnt seem like he was in the wrong.

  2. Yea, doesnt seem like Brock should have been arrested.
    But, and I’m just thinking out loud here, isn’t it kind of an unwritten rule that you don’t sit down in a restuarant and have someone go get food from somewhere else to bring back and eat in said restaurant?

  3. The street cart vendor who sold them the cheesesteaks couldn’t understand why they didn’t want to eat them outside on the bench with the pidgeons and panhandlers.

  4. That is some really petty stuff. With all of the duties that come with being a restaurant manager this guy decided that taking down Brock over $28 was of utmost priority. A miniscule mishap concerning 28 george washingtons is a situation easily diffused…

  5. geeeeemen says:
    Jun 21, 2011 12:35 PM
    Yea, doesnt seem like Brock should have been arrested.
    But, and I’m just thinking out loud here, isn’t it kind of an unwritten rule that you don’t sit down in a restuarant and have someone go get food from somewhere else to bring back and eat in said restaurant?
    ====================

    My step-daughter is a vegan and often brings her own food to restaurants when we go out as a family. As long as the majority of your party is ordering from the menu and you aren’t just taking up a table without buying anything, the restaurant should not have a problem with it, and we have never had a problem anywhere we’ve gone.

  6. This reminds me of when Marshawn Lynch would bring his own bottle of alcohol to the bars.

  7. In what world is it ok to walk out of a restaurant, go to another restaurant, then return to the first one, expecting to eat another establishments food on the premises?

    Come on now. If I go out and order a burger from McDonalds they aren’t going to let me it in Burger King. And that’s McDonalds and Burger King, let alone a good restaurant.

  8. Where is the location of restaurant that Brock owns?

    I want to go there with my cousin and my wife.

    After we place our order I will ask my wife to go to another restaurant place an order, then bring the food back to Brock’ s restaurant to eat it.
    Then i will cancel the order that my cousin and I placed.

    Do you think he will mind?

  9. You can honestly be arrested and placed in handcuffs for skipping out on what was likely a $30 bill? Is that even a misdemeanor?

  10. Come on now stop being so easy on the guy. Dude should be locked up for at least a year.

    I better say I am just kidding before everybody starts freakin out.

  11. Where is the location of the restaurant that Brock owns?

    I want to go there with my cousin and my wife.

    After we place our order I will ask my wife to go to another restaurant, place a take-out order, then bring the food back to Brock’ s restaurant to eat it.
    Then i will cancel the order that my cousin and I placed.

    Do you think he will mind?

  12. hobartbaker says: Jun 21, 2011 12:37 PM

    The street cart vendor who sold them the cheesesteaks couldn’t understand why they didn’t want to eat them outside on the bench with the pidgeons and panhandlers.

    Hobart,

    Stick to your hi-brow repartee and refrain from talking about subjects you absolutely clearly don’t know what you are talking about.

    Thanks, chappy.

  13. realitypolice says:
    Jun 21, 2011 12:40 PM

    My step-daughter is a vegan and often brings her own food to restaurants when we go out as a family. As long as the majority of your party is ordering from the menu and you aren’t just taking up a table without buying anything, the restaurant should not have a problem with it, and we have never had a problem anywhere we’ve gone.
    ============================
    Good to know that there are exceptions. But I’d think the party should be able to have a legit reason (being a vegan) to bring in outside food, not just, “I like the cheesesteaks across the street.”

  14. Having been a witness in a dispute a friend had with a restaurant owner before (and then him being cited for disorderly conduct as the cops hunted down our taxi cab and tried to suggest we broke a window–the charge was eventually dropped for insufficient evidence–you know that part that it just never happened!!!), I can appreciate how these things rapidly escalate and get out of hand. Restaurant owners can get very testy, very quickly. Often it has NOTHING to do with you. It could be with dealing with OTHERS and then taking it out on you. Restaurants (that ‘second’ as bars) often have a close relationship with the police. So police will take their word over the customers’ (particularly of the owner says you’ve been drinking). In my friend’s case, eventually everything was dropped. No one was arrested, but it was still a pain in the ass having to go to court over the citation, etc. And it was all because of a completely unreasonable restaurant owner/manager, imho, who then concocted a false story (said broken window) to try and “get back at him”. Fortunately, that restaurant has gone out of business and closed (a shocker given their brilliant customer service!). But he suffered no consequences for effectively lying to police. My guess is that this incident, too, will just kind of go away. Sounds like a possible case of overzealous restaurant owner combined with overzealous cops. But who knows? Just a guess.

  15. simplesimon1 says:
    Jun 21, 2011 12:43 PM
    In what world is it ok to walk out of a restaurant, go to another restaurant, then return to the first one, expecting to eat another establishments food on the premises?

    Come on now. If I go out and order a burger from McDonalds they aren’t going to let me it in Burger King. And that’s McDonalds and Burger King, let alone a good restaurant.
    ============================

    My I’m reading the article differently, or maybe just more carefully, but it says that the only person that wanted something else was the friend, meaning that Brock and his cousin ordered from the menu at the restaurant they were thrown out of. So it’s not like they were not planning on spending money there.

    And if they cancelled their order and left before the food was delivered, they aren’t responsible for paying for it. I have been on both sides. As a restaurant owner, I have had many customers cancel orders before getting them, and they were never charged. And I have cancelled orders at restaurants before- once because it took too long and I had to get to a show, and once because I had to leave the restaurant to deal with a family emergency. Neither time was I charged for the food.

  16. I’m sure it isn’t as simple as Brock’s side of the story, but anyway you cut it to arrest Brock over a $26 tab when the food had not showed up at the table and the staff had told you to leave?

    I mean come on this a waste of the Cops time and the legal systems! They have better things to do than baby sit a dispute that could have very easily been settled by both sides!

  17. I got KILLED on a another sports website a few days ago for saying that I thought Brock was in the right, I mean it brought new meaning to the word “flamed” . Since then I’ve talked to servers that have told me very simply that if you don’t actually serve the food, it’s a loss for the restaurant. period. If I were Brock, I’d insist on a jury trial; I guarantee , the whole “resisting” thing isn’t going to stand up either, the police had a duty to investigate and they didn’t; all too common with the Philly PD.

  18. This is so strange to me since I know of quite a few places that allow you bring other food in as long as you’re spending money in their place as well.

    And I don’t see this as any different than sending food back because you don’t like it. In that case the food isn’t getting paid for either.

  19. simplesimon1 says:
    Jun 21, 2011 12:43 PM
    In what world is it ok to walk out of a restaurant, go to another restaurant, then return to the first one, expecting to eat another establishments food on the premises?

    Come on now. If I go out and order a burger from McDonalds they aren’t going to let me it in Burger King. And that’s McDonalds and Burger King, let alone a good restaurant.

    ==================================
    Sooooooooooooo, he desrved to be arrested for leaving and coming back with another business’ food? I wonder what perspective you are coming from?

  20. This account reads differently than the first account, which said they were in the bar and had received part of their order before leaving. I took that to mean they’d already had some drinks and/or appetizers before being asked to leave. So of course, I thought they should have paid for what they consumed.

    If they hadn’t consumed anything … and more important, if Brock offered to pay the tab … surely Philly cops have better things to do than arresting someone who’s willing to make restitution on the spot. I don’t blame the restaurant owner for not wanting a member of the party to bring in food from another establishment. But no matter who was in the right, this wasn’t a good way to build positive community relations for his business.

  21. “dumbasdirt says: Jun 21, 2011 12:49 PM

    Where is the location of restaurant that Brock owns?

    I want to go there with my cousin and my wife.

    After we place our order I will ask my wife to go to another restaurant place an order, then bring the food back to Brock’ s restaurant to eat it.
    Then i will cancel the order that my cousin and I placed.

    Do you think he will mind?”

    __________________________

    He would probably mind. But I doubt HE’D HAVE YOU FLIPPIN’ ARRESTED.

    You proved Brock’s point.

  22. If Brock owns restaurants, what is another restaurant? He can open it across the street from the guy that had him arrested, offer better food for a lower price. The name of the restaurant could be “28 Dollars”.

  23. If a group can’t decide where to eat why not just get it all to go and eat at your pad, then no one gets offended or calls the cops.

  24. @“dumbasdirt says: Jun 21, 2011 12:49 PM

    Where is the location of restaurant that Brock owns?

    I want to go there with my cousin and my wife.

    After we place our order I will ask my wife to go to another restaurant place an order, then bring the food back to Brock’ s restaurant to eat it.
    Then i will cancel the order that my cousin and I placed.

    Do you think he will mind?”
    ==================================

    Prolly not if that is what your name tag said…dumbasdirt…..Are you sure your cousin and wife aren’t the same person?

  25. @dumbasdirt: Actually, you would have to go with your cousin and wife and place your order but when your wife comes back with the takeout from the other restaurant, you can only cancel the order if Brock’s place throws you out because of it. See, that’s why Copa was stupid. They were getting plenty of food and drink ordered from Brock and his cousin. They might have stayed all night and ordered more food and drink if Copa had been cool about the cheesesteak, and the girlfriend eventually probably would have ordered drinks. They would have accumulated a much bigger tab than $27, they would have paid , and probably tipped well if the restaurant didn’t make a big deal over nothing. Instead, the Copa wanted to be right, exploited their relationship with the cops, and made themselves look like the worst customer service eatery around, in a neighborhood where almost all of the places are superior to it in terms of quality already.

  26. Here is what really happened (probably)

    Brock and co. enter the place drunk and have some drinks. Sister wanted a cheese steak from across the street. Though it is incredibly rude to bring another restaurant’s food in, they are big shots and therefore shouldn’t have to care about such heathen rules and certainly not have to ask the restaurant if this is okay. Just do it.

    The restaurant owner says “you can’t bring that in here”, obviously unaware of Brock’s higher standing in society than his own. Brock and co. fly off the handle at his pestilence, make a loud and obnoxious scene, and leave without paying for their drinks.

    Owner is angry, and douchy, and calls the cops over it and they arrest him. Brock gets really good lawyers and beats the rap.

  27. Another thing, if there were the three of them, why was only Brock arrested? Is there a written rule for the richest guy being responsible for the bill?

  28. simplesimon1 says:
    Jun 21, 2011 12:43 PM
    In what world is it ok to walk out of a restaurant, go to another restaurant, then return to the first one, expecting to eat another establishments food on the premises?

    ———

    In a world where you ask the restaurant staff nicely, and they are cool about it so long as you still run up a good sized tab. If they aren’t cool about it, you politely take your business elsewhere.

    The real problem here is that this is Philadelphia where customers and owners and completely inconsiderate of one another, or so I’ve heard.

  29. the thought he would have “tipped well” if allowed to stay was pretty much thrown out the window when he refused to pay his bar-tab.

    besides, once the cops are called, it’s too late… ask any other petty thief who’s been caught.

  30. In what world is it ok to walk out of a restaurant, go to another restaurant, then return to the first one, expecting to eat another establishments food on the premises?

    Come on now. If I go out and order a burger from McDonalds they aren’t going to let me it in Burger King. And that’s McDonalds and Burger King, let alone a good restaurant.
    =====================================

    Burger King doesnt care as long as someone orders a few whoppers or something. Ive done it. My wife hates BK but my kids love it so I get her some mcds then we head to BK to eat. Nobody has ever said a word. Not even a weird look from workers. I think this whole story is lame and stupid and a complete waste of tax payer money to persue. DUMB DEE DUMB DUMB!

  31. @darthvincent: Not at all…. in that industry if you treat your customers well, they treat you well. They didn’t, so they deserve nothing.

  32. theytukrjobs “The restaurant owner says “you can’t bring that in here”, obviously unaware of Brock’s higher standing in society than his own. Brock and co. fly off the handle at his **pestilence**, make a loud and obnoxious scene, and leave without paying for their drinks. ”

    Dude, I am not buying any food from one of the Four Horsemen unless it was Arn Anderson…

  33. You can honestly be arrested and placed in handcuffs for skipping out on what was likely a $30 bill? Is that even a misdemeanor?…Of course!!..Now, in this case there seems to be holes..Seems like Brock offered to pay..Should have ended right there even with the dispute if he ever got the food or not….But, if u walk into a store and steal a $1.oo candy bar..You’re still doing a theft and can get arrested if the store pursue charges…But, yes it is insane in this case..The manager will waste time and money to go to court for a low bill that was offered to be paid.

  34. drbob117 says:

    “They would have accumulated a much bigger tab than $27, they would have paid , and probably tipped well if the restaurant didn’t make a big deal over nothing. ”

    LOL, that’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard. I love to see people that don’t know anything about other races assume things. Tip well he said……LMFAO.

    There’s a lot more to this story than what Brock said, I promise you. Restaurants aren’t in the biz of arresting patrons over nothing.

  35. @spanky317 – I think they let you do that at Burger King because it was your wife’s birthday or Mother’s Day or something spank. Or maybe the family was out celebrating the fact that your wife got the second job so you all could stay in the apartment. But normally they frown on mixing BK wit McD on the premises.

  36. The owner said he skipped out on a bill for 30$ which Brock offered to pay.

    If this is true, Brock more than likely would never be in handcuffs.

    If however he did what most young men do when they feel an unjust act has been done upon them and they have a sense of entitlement with a big mouth, a simple situation that could normally be finished quickly will land you in hand cuffs.

    The bottom line this was all about money, and if willingly offered to pay, and the owner refused, then no crime has happened and its on the owners tab. Either make him pay and be done with it, or wait a week and find out this owner is probably a falcons, saints, or panthers fan :-p

  37. theytukrjobs says: Jun 21, 2011 2:19 PM

    “Brock and co. fly off the handle at his PESTILENCE, make a loud and obnoxious scene, and leave without paying for their drinks. ”

    You mean petulance?

    I don’t usually mention grammar type things but that’s just funny!

  38. This is actually very stupid. To arrest him over $28 is ludicrous. It’s $28, for crying out loud! And yet I can’t get a police officer to drive to the scene of an accident to issue a police report. What nonsense!

  39. I’m still laughing at the “vegan girl who brought her own food whenever all of us went out to where we wanted to eat” line… pictures of tofu pellets dropping from on high…

  40. @drbob117 — I’ve been in way to many bar’s offering free food during NFL games while watching “alleged” patrons ordering only water from the bar…

  41. @pkrlvr: “I love to see people that don’t know anything about other races assume things” Are you bleeping kidding me?? I’m white, and that happens to be the most offensive thing I’ve ever seen here. Are you saying that because Brock is an African American that he wouldn’t tip well?? Dude, there must be a bedsheet somewhere with your name on it.

  42. Yes, I didn’t know how to spell petulance. My spell checker “corrected” my attempt and entered the word pestilence, which means a plague. The word pestilence has no ironic or sarcastic significance in relation to petulance. Simply a different word with somewhat similar spelling. I fail to see the funny in it.

  43. @darthvincent: I agree that there are lots of ignorant customers out there, and bringing food from the outside or your example of only ordering water at bars where free food is offered during NFL games is pretty damn classless; that said it shouldn’t get you thrown in jail.

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