Italian tourist Graziano Graziussi was arrested at New York steakhouse Smith & Wollensky, after forgetting his wallet at his hotel.
It was supposed to be a good evening for Italian tourist Graziano Graziussi. On his second night of a two week holiday in New York City, he had planned a nice dinner with a friend and perhaps a late night stroll through the city. Instead, he ended up in jail – arrested for forgetting his wallet at his hotel.
Mr Graziussi and his friend went to upscale steakhouse Smith & Wollensky, where a rib eye steak costs 50 dollars. Dinner went well, until it was time to pay the bill. “- The moment the check arrived, I realized that I had actually forgotten my wallet at my hotel,” says Mr Graziussi, “so I kindly asked the staff how we could manage the situation. I proposed to leave my iPhone with them, run back to the hotel and then come back with my wallet in 15 minutes.”
The maître d at Smith & Wollensky would hear nothing of such a deal. Instead, the restaurant instantly called the Police. “- I wasn’t worried. I thought that the Police would laugh at the situation and let me go get my wallet,” says Mr Graziussi. “But, they were pretty rough”, he continues, “they handcuffed me outside the restaurant and took me straight to jail like a criminal.”
“- Jail was horrible, jail is horrible for anybody, you’re behind bars, you are treated like an animal, for forgetting your wallet,” Mr Graziussi says.
The next morning, a judge dismissed the case against Mr Graziussi, but he had to promise to show up in court to pay the bill next week. Mr Graziussi says he will of course pay, something he intended all along, but he is very disappointed with how Smith & Wollensky handled the situation. “- I would have expected an upscale place like Smith & Wollensky to behave a bit more corteous to their customers. This really could happen to anybody, and it was an honest mistake, but they didn’t care,” says Mr Graziussi.
As for Mr Graziussi, he will never forget his wallet again while in New York. If you are heading to Smith & Wollensky anytime soon, you too should probably double check that you have yours with you, unless you want to spend a night at a much less fancy establishment.