Homeless Man Arrested After Refusing to Pay for Fish Dinner

A 43-year-old area man with no permanent address was arrested for obtaining food or accommodations with the intent to defraud after he ordered a fish dinner from a city restaurant with no way to pay, police said.

Newport police charged Joseph Russell Cote after employees at the Brick Alley Pub reported at around 9:30 p.m. that he ate his meal and when asked to pay, he said he couldn’t. Things escalated from there and staff members decided to call police when Cote reportedly became belligerent and made employees uncomfortable.

Police said Cote told officers at the scene that he couldn’t make arrangements to pay the $16.15, either.

He was taken into custody without incident and was held for arraignment Wednesday morning in Newport County District Court.

Matt Plumb, manager of Brick Alley Pub, said Cote was never served alcohol. In fact, he came into the restaurant carrying a bottle of liquor and was told he couldn’t drink it while in the establishment.

Plumb said that an earlier version of this story on Wednesday has sparked a negative backlash against the pub as many believed it was a matter of a business calling the cops when someone down on their luck needed a helping hand.

Instead, he said, Cote was unruly and argumentative and insisted that he never ordered any food after eating his meal. Bartenders were dealing with other customers and Cote was making staff members feel uncomfortable — for themselves as well as the safety of other customers.

“We don’t just call cops on people if someone forgets to pay,” Plumb said. “What it comes down to is there was a guy being belligerent and [staff members] were uncomfortable with that.”

People forget their wallets and normally, the restaurant wouldn’t have a problem with it. And if someone who was in dire straits ended up unable to pay for a meal, “we would have figured something out.”

But the bartenders were concerned about the matter escalating, so they called police, just how other Newport establishments deal with unruly customers, Plumb said.

This story was first posted at 2:30 p.m. and updated at 5:30 p.m.