Ever crave a meal so bad you’d kill for it? 

When it comes to meals, some people literally don’t play. We learned that several times over in the past few years. Particularly this year when craze over Popeyes chicken sandwich sparked mayhem across the country. At the height of their craze, Popeyes stores routinely hit with long lines and sold out sandwiches which surprisingly unleashed a world of wild in various states. In fact, in November of last year, a man by the name of Ricoh McClaine fatally stabbed a customer in Maryland who had cut in front of the lines to purchase his sandwich. Fortunately, our list of food-related crimes are a bit lighter and funnier than cases of murder. Below, find a series of stories in which desperate food cravings led to desperate crimes. From a man who stole food from his own mama to to a woman who went ham at a taco store. We literally rounded up the best stories we could find online about food crimes. 

Check them out! 

That time a guy from New Mexico was arrested for stealing his mom’s pozole

It’s true. According to the Albuquerque Journal, a 23-year-old man texted his mother that he would drop by to eat. Ray’s mother told police she asked him not to go to the house. When she arrived, Ray entered through the back door, opened the fridge and ran off with a large pot of pozole. “He opened the door and grabbed that big pot of pozole I had made for my kids. He knew I had made it,” said Ray’s mother to the Albuquerque Journal.

When an Indiana woman was dining and dashing with chalupas and charged with felony theft.

Los Amigos, an Indiana restaurant specializing in “authentic” Mexican food, took a woman named Jennifer Peru to court because she refused to pay for a chalupa that she claimed wasn’t a real chalupa.

On its surface, we can understand why Culver was confused. The chalupas that are sold at Taco Bell are described as  “a fried tortilla shell, in the shape of a small boat, filled with lots of flavorful ingredients”, and Culver may have been used to that version. But according to Los Amigos’s menu, their chalupa is “a flat tortilla with refried beans, topped with cheese and guacamole salad”. To no one’s suprrise, there is quite a stark contrast between the way a fast food joint approaches making Mexican food in comparison to the way a local, mom-and-pop store would make one. 

According to court records, Culver tried to sneak out of the restaurant by walking “briskly” past the cash register with her two children in tow. But the restaurant manager caught up to Culver in the parking lot before she could make her great escape. After being asked to pay her $11.73 bill, Culver responded that she’s “not paying for that [expletive]”. Because the manager wasn’t one to mess around with, he called the cops on the dine-and-dasher and reported her for theft.  Ultimately, a jury convicted Culver of a level 6 felony theft, resulting in 120 days on electronic monitoring, and 14 months of probation, and fined a cumulative total of $485.

When a Mexican man was caught stealing trompo Meat from a taco shop. 

One man’s hunger and deep love for tacos resulted in one of the best WTF?! moments caught on camera. Video footage recently surfaced of a man in Mexico City stealing, of all things, a trompo of el pastor meat from a small taco stand. Crazy right?

In the video, an unidentified man dressed in black clothing is seen slowly exiting a white car; he scouts the area and a few seconds later approaches the unattended taco stand, grabs the trompo, and drives away with the meaty bounty.

The case of the 14 meth burrito orders

Back on Feb. 3, 2018, Renteria was pulled over in the Angelino Heights neighborhood by Los Angeles Police officers after multiple witnesses reported a white Chevrolet Tahoe driving erratically. When police asked for his license, Renteria didn’t have it on him and was then allowed to search for his registration and insurance. While he couldn’t provide the correct paperwork, police determined the vehicle was registered to Renteria legally but found that his license was expired. That’s when Renteria let police search the vehicle. They would soon find a black garbage bag filled with 14 “foil-wrapped, burrito shaped” packages.

The woman who got her RV stuck in a Taco Bell drive-thru.

 Photo by Kennewick Police Department.

In Washington, Police arrested a woman after suspecting her of being under the influence while driving. According to the Kennewick Police Department, the woman drove her RV the wrong way into the Taco Bell’s drive-thru in December. When the RV couldn’t make the turn around the drive-thru’s corner it got stuck in the building’s corner. 

The drunk man who brought a knife fight to Taco Bell but did not deliver.

In 2014, a drunk man went to Taco Bell to attent to his munchies and got served with an order of handcuffs.  According to WFTV, Gabriel Harris rode his bicycle through the drive-thru of a Taco Bell in Florida. When he was told the restaurant was closing he refused to leave until he was served. It wasn’t until police showed up that he pulled out a knife and was ultimately arrested.

It’s official, mi gente. The Fried Chickens Wars just got real. Last week, according to a Taco Bell press release, the beloved Mexican-Inspired fast-food restaurant threw down the gauntlet and joined in the battle for your wallets when they announced that  their test kitchen had concocted the perfect crispy chicken recipe. 

After months off watching Chik-fil-A and Popeyes battling it out over who has the best chicken sandwich, Taco Bell announced that themselves as contenders in the war.

This past August, Twitter exploded with the Chicken Sandwich Wars between Popeye’s newest menu addition and Chic-fil-A’s classic options. Black Twitter shared stories of long lines to get the sandwiches and flooded the social media site with news of sandwich shortages. The restaurants’ social media handles even joined in, throwing causal shade at each other. From there, it didn’t take long for the memes to start. Memes about the Chicken Sandwich Wars beef and the public’s reaction to sandwich shortages were quickly shared on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. 

Now, Taco Bell has announced that it is joining in on the chaos, this time with their own Mexican-inspired take on chicken. In a press release the food chain revealed that they would debut a Crispy Tortilla Chicken. The new menu item will add its own twist to the classic Taco Bell Taco  with premium all-white meat that has been marinated in jalapeño buttermilk flavored marinade and then treated to a crunchy tortilla chip coating. According to Taco Bell, the chicken strips will be stuffed into a taco with filling and served with a new Taco Bell signature dipping sauce.

If you’re just here for the chicken, you can get the chicken à la carte, or without the shell.

According to the Taco Bell press release, the chain’s test chicken created 100 versions of the new menu item before selecting the current crispy chicken recipe. The brand is set to test out its performance amongst consumers in Houston, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. After the test, the sandwich is set to be introduced nationwide next year in 2020 and will be available at a price of $1.99 for a taco, $2.99 for a 2-piece, $3.99 for a 3-piece, and in $5 and $7 boxes.

Taco Bell’s decision to add its name to the ring of the Chicken Wars means things just got real.

While they might be a little bit late to the fried chicken battles that stormed across  social media feeds upon the debut of Popeye’s first fried chicken sandwich this past August, we think they’ve got a dog in the fight. After all, while rival fast-food brands  like Chick-fil-A and Wendy raged war on the Popeye’s sandwich in a series of #ChickenWars tweets, Taco Bell stayed pretty silent. Which means that they had to have been secretly plotting and had created a plan to strike with a method that would truly throw off their opponents.  Still, fans of Taco Bell might not be all to surprised.

Particularly after the company announced it would be upgrading the menu this past August. That’s right, when the Chicken Wars officially started.

https://twitter.com/tacobell/status/1166906055017807872?lang=en

First it was the believed Caramel Apple Empanada which was discontinued and it’s removal shocked many fans of the flakey dessert. But Taco Bell wasn’t doesn’t surprising diners. Over the course of the next few months, the chain introduced spicy nacho fries and hash-brown stuffed burritos. Now, it’s back at it again… with a total revamp.

And the thing they did was remove the double-decker taco, along with eight other menu items. The company also gave the menu a new look and updated combo orders.

The company will now also offer entirely new combos.

CREDIT: TACO BELL

These combos could do some serious damage to the stomach…two chicken chalupas supreme?! That’s a whole lot of food their Taco Bell. 

And the menu itself will have an entirely new look and feel.

CREDIT: @TACOBELL / TWITTER

Not too shabby. I’m feeling the cleaner design and simple images. 

The big menu revamp isn’t just shocking and tragic (RIP Cool Ranch Doritos Locos), but also kind of unusual. Typically, T-Bell doesn’t want to draw attention to foods it deems unworthy of keeping around anymore, like the aforementioned Caramel Apple Empanada and everyone’s childhood favorite order, the Meximelt, which the company quietly discontinued earlier this year. 

However, Taco Bell does like to routinely make a big deal out of taking away your favorite orders — like the ever-popular Nacho Fries — just so that you miss them and buy them like crazy when upon their eventual return (sound familiar?!). Maybe one or more of the newly axed offerings will rise from the dead some day.