Student tossed in slammer for salad heist

It's not very often a $6.95 salad from Houston Market is unforgettable.

Yet College freshman Melanie Foreman is unlikely to forget the garden salad with feta cheese and ranch dressing she picked up on Tuesday.

When the 19-year-old walked out of Houston Hall without paying Tuesday afternoon, Philadelphia Police were waiting with handcuffs. Foreman was arrested and charged with retail theft, a misdemeanor.

The student was taken to the police station at 40th and Market streets, where she said she spent an hour crying in a cold cell without her sweatshirt or jacket, which police had taken away from her.

While admitting that she was culpable, Foreman thinks that the police response was excessive. "I was wrong. I shouldn't have done it, but if they'd [just] told me not to do it again I sure as hell wouldn't have," she said.

For her indiscretion, she earned a court date in Center City early yesterday morning -- scheduled for approximately the same time as one of her midterms. The judge was late, she said, so the court officers on duty told her to head to class and return later in the day.

But that wasn't the end of this episode.

She returned to find a judge's arrest warrant in her name and has to go back again this morning to sort things out.

The moral of this tale for any student who attempts to lift food from the wide-open Houston aisles: She never even got a chance to eat the salad. So much for lunch on the run.

-- Garrett Young

Comments (19)

Do you Penn kids really think that you are above the law? I'm glad she sat there crying for an hour. What did she think it was a big joke? Well I guess the joke's on her. I only wish I was there to slap the cuffs on her. Thats one thing I really like about my job...slapping the cuffs on the little Penn kiddies. Peace.... P.T. Barnum, Po-Po 4040 Chestnut

I am not defending her actions, but when you go to other schools the cops are usually around to help the students. Why is it that Philly cops love "slapping the cuffs on the little Penn kiddies"? Nothing like unbiased serve and protect. No other school that I have visited are the cops so quick to punish students. Joe Schmo, alumni Not Philly

Why Philadelphia police; why not UPPD officers? The latter have jurisdiction on public streets in and around campus; don't they also have jurisdiction inside Houston Hall? Proud Penn Parent 08, Journalist Northern New Jersey

Why are you writing seemingly-fake news in prose format and confusing everyone? If this was real the cartoonish headline seem inappropriate... if you must write such odd stories with morals and whatnot, an info box about what possessed you to think that's a good idea would have been nice at the end. been there

These comments from Melanie appeared in the graduation edition of her high school newspaper, the Moniteau ARROW: Melanie Foreman Quote: "He who has never made a mistake has never made a discovery." Plans After Graduation: University of Pennsylvania as a political science major and eventually go to law school. An Amused DP Reader

When I first read this article, I thought perhaps the DP's annual April Fool's edition had come out a month early. Were the cops, the handcuffs, and the court date really necessary? Instead of simply tapping her on the shoulder and asking her to pay for the salad, the Houston staff calls the cops? There are students on this campus who have NEVER paid for a meal from Houston Market, so was it really necessary to make such a drastic example of a frightened freshman girl? I'm not excusing the fact that she didn't pay for her meal, but must we really treat her this way? Why don't the Penn Police just start slapping cuffs on every drunk on Locust Walk or every underager at Smokes? J

Glad she got arrested. I would LOVE to see them post a police officer in there. Do you think people stealing meals makes the food cost (more/less/about the same) for everyone else. The law is the law. Get used to it. PS. Can you believe she had to sit in a holding cell for a whole hour? God forbid! Did they at least let her bring her salad? ahhahahahha tip

Whew. I'm glad the Philly cops took care of that dangerous criminal. Now I can get back to worrying about being mugged at gunpoint, getting shot up at the Bridge, and having my car broken into. Jack R.

Is she black? The DP shows it's racist side yet again. Why hasn't the unversity shit these f@#*(ks down yet???? Andrew from Outkast

Witty headline, but not so funny story. This poor girl is going to have some 'splainin to do at such time as the bar admission committee asks her if she has ever been arrested. And she may not have an adequate answer, either. Lawyer alum

Hee Hee Hee. Somebody got in trouble! Let's face it, Penn's undergrads have their fair share of entitlement. What they lack is empathy: did she consider what her transgression means to the worker behind the salad counter earning $6 an hour, and to those who obey the law? I offer a philisophical question to all. Do you have more sympathy for the functionally illiterate, 10th grade drop-out from West Philly who breaks into your car and steals your back pack or maybe even robs you at gun point to, let's say, feed a family or feed a drug habit; OR, do you side with a well-educated young woman who was raised with the advantages of good schools in West Sunbury, PA and, in all likelihood, could afford to pay for her $6 salad? I'm curious what people think. roblew, Lobbyist Collingswood, New Jersey

Philadelphia police were waiting for her? Somebody called in a salad theft and a Philly dispatcher actually sent officers to make an arrest? There's a different story in here somewhere: cops simply do not get sent to intercept a salad thief. Maybe security, maybe even university police but not the city. Then to respond in such a fashion as to get there in time to intercept her as she left the building? So what was it? She refused to heed employee requests to pay or rebuffed security so that cops had to be called? Full out shoplifters seldom wind up in custody so what else have the crack D.P. reporters missed? Amazed

I second roblew's comments! And I am wondering why this student's photo was not published like the photo of the African-American student who was charged with assault last year. Unlike the suspect in that incident, this student was caught red-handed and there is no question of her guilt. Things that make you go hmmm... angel'05, Penn Student, Class of 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Okay folks. It was in fact the UPPD that took this alleged thief out of Houston Hall in cuffs. The theft of the salad being under $50.00 is a summary offense. The offense will likely be adjudicated with a fine, community service and placed in an accelerated rehabilitation program where the offense is totally removed from the girls history if she stays out of trouble for the next year. Should she have been arrested? Well�? yes. If you haven�?t noticed there are many people bragging about never having paid for a meal at Houston Hall because of the lack security there. It appears that they lose thousands to the Penn Student five finger discount each month. How about them Penn Cops arresting that poor girl instead of paying for her meal out of their own pockets. Penn has its own police department to provide an increased level of service that the Philadelphia Police are unable or unwilling to provide. However the cops swear an oath to uphold the Constitution and enforce the law without regard for a persons station or political affiliation. Why is that so difficult to understand? Why would the DP even print this article. A person stole an item from a vender, they admit to stealing the item, they wait an hour for the police to process the arrest, they go to court but leave because their time is better spent elsewhere, the Judge finds them in contempt of court and issues a warrant for their arrest. Happens every day. Not a circus geek, Servant

My take is this is a PSA on a new "quality of life" Penn initiative: get rid of the petty thieves among us by jailing their butts (note this particular crime is only minor if she doesn't repeat it....otherwise the trouble for her escalates) and over-all life at Penn will be improved. It worked in NYC so why not here. Anybody else know fellow students who have lost laptops, cells and cash from locations only available to fellow students? Yeah well this is a start to eliminate those perps from the student body because guess what, people who commit bigger crimes commit little ones too and when you bust 'em on the littles it has a calming effect. Guiliani's rules

The DP is racist because a white chick stealing a salad made the front page? Where do you idiots come up with this stuff? She tried to steal a salad and got caught. Was the arrest excessive? maybe. Is the story hilarious? Definitely. Why is it racist that a campus crime makes the school paper? It's called journalism. Who cares if they put her picture up or not? Enough people know who she is and those who don't will most likely look her up on facebook. She fought the law and the law won. Let this be a lesson to all you whitebread wannabe criminals. You are all as soft as Kleenex. The question we should be asking is why didn't the genius just charge it to her bursar account with her Penncard? Greg Down South Somewhere

Greg, shut the fuck up! Your bullshit racist "the white man is opressing me" routine is old... how about you are a douche-bagg? Dispose of yourself properly....as for Salad Girl...tough shit... What I really wondering is the proportion of students that are arrested for crimes around campus, and those non-students who attack and vandalize our campus-where are the police then? Michael J. Stevko, Citizen of the World Sansom East michaeljstevko@hotmail.com

The DP is racist!! Every week the crime log has tons of petty thefts committed around campus, most by West Philly residents, that are relegated to a tiny box in an unread corner of the paper. And yet when one white Penn student steals a 6.00 salad it makes the front page. If this isnt racism and biasness on the part of the DP's staff I dont know what it is. wtf, philly student

Is this still happening at Houston Hall? Has security been changed at all? Are students still going to Penn and never paying a penny for Houston Hall food?

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