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Snack is trouble for inmate, any way you slice it
A weekend regular at the county jail is accused of pilfering a guard's pizza and charged with petty theft.
By Times Staff Writer
Published June 28, 2005
An inmate with a taste for pepperoni pizza may have to swallow some trouble after a jailhouse snack.
About 10:20 p.m. Friday, a Hernando County sheriff's deputy, who was at the jail investigating an unrelated case, said he saw Patrick Zupo walk out of a holding cell and walk to a counter in the booking area, where a pizza box was sitting.
Zupo opened the pizza box, grabbed a piece of pepperoni/cheese pizza, walked back toward the cell and began eating the pizza, according to a sheriff's arrest report.
The deputy said that when he asked Zupo what he was doing, Zupo shrugged his shoulders and said with a mouthful of pizza that he had permission.
Zupo is a weekender at the jail. On June 17, he was sentenced to 19 consecutive weekends for driving with a suspended or revoked license, according to jail records.
The jail is under construction, and the air conditioning doesn't work. Holding cell doors are left open to keep the air circulating, the report said.
The deputy explained what he saw to corrections Officer Jose Pabon, who said that the pizza belonged to him. Pabon said he hadn't given Zupo permission to leave his cell and take the pizza. He wanted to press charges.
Zupo, 27, was charged with petty theft, booked on a $250 bail and ordered to appear in court on Aug. 3. According to the jail records office, Zupo was released after posting bail.
Zupo couldn't be reached for comment.
[Last modified June 28, 2005, 01:46:16]
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