WEEHAWKEN, N.J. – The search is over for a man who made a big stink in a local restaurant.
John Muia, 30, of Jersey City, was sentenced to 90 days in jail for walking out without paying after ordering several expensive meals at high-class restaurants in Weehawken.
But he reportedly won’t do any additional jail time for crime No. 2: Leaving feces wrapped in a napkin on his seat.
“He left some matter which was foul smelling. We didn’t have it analyzed – it could have been from a dog or from him,” Weehawken Public Safety Director Jeff Welz said of the Aug. 31 incident inside Ruth’s Chris Steak House.
No matter where it came from, Welz said, it was “pretty nasty” for the unfortunate waiter who not only made that unpleasant discovery but also got stiffed on the check for Muia’s order of two bottles of Dom Perignon champagne – priced at $200 a bottle – and fresh strawberries.
Muia reportedly told the waiter that the champagne and strawberries were for a special occasion, but after sampling the strawberries declared they weren’t up to his standards and sent them back. When the waiter returned, Muia was gone, and only the stinky surprise remained.
Muia – who police said weighs more than 300 pounds – wasn’t able to make a quick escape from Houlihan’s in Weehawken two weeks later. He tried to leave without paying for a meal at that restaurant on Sept. 15, but was caught.
Six days later, he pleaded guilty to two counts of theft for the Aug. 31 and Sept. 15 “dine and dash” incidents, but Ruth’s Chris Steak House didn’t want to press charges against him related to the nose-pinching surprise, Welz said.
He was sentenced to 90 days in the Hudson County jail in Kearny and a $1,700 fine, Welz said.
Muia’s mother, Rose, said her son is addicted to drugs and that he steals all the time.
“He’s sick,” Rose Muia said. “He stole money from his father and from others for drugs . I’m upset, but he’s got to learn his lesson in jail.”
Authorities are familiar with Muia, a Griffith Street resident.
Hudson County spokesman Jim Kennelly said Muia was arrested Sept. 5 in Lyndhurst after trying to charge food and wine charges to a Rutherford hotel room that wasn’t his, and five years ago he was arrested on a charge of fraud after allegedly using a false name to try to buy a car from East Coast Chevrolet in Union City. Union City police couldn’t be reached last night to say how that case turned out.
And there’s an outstanding warrant for Muia’s arrest on theft charges after he allegedly stole a Union City police officer’s wallet from the New York Sports Club in Hoboken, Sgt. Michael Costello said.