On May 21 at about 9:45 a.m., the manager at DK's Donuts, 1614 Santa Monica Blvd., called to report that someone had just stolen a cup of coffee.
A homeless58-year-old white manwearing a gray hoodie walked into the store, poured himself a cup of coffee and walked out without paying.
When officers arrived, they found the man with the still-hot coffee standing in front of a nearby business. Initially, the man refused to follow the officers' instructions to set down the coffee and speak with them. The man tried to walk away and had to be detained and handcuffed.
The man, later identified as Matthew Rogers, spontaneously asked the officers to let him go with a warning, insisting that he would go pay for the coffee if they released him.
The DK's manager signed a private person's arrest, and Rogers was taken to jail for shoplifting. Bail was set at $5,000.
