Maurice the Meter Menace: Police Search for Alleged Parking Meter Felon

In Cool Hand Luke, Paul Newman’s character Lucas Jackson was sent to a work gang for cutting off the heads of parking meters. He has now been outdone by the not-so-cool Maurice Mizrahi, 34, who is accused of pulling 87 meters out of the ground and taking them home to drill out over $6000 in quarters. His own mother called the police.

Mizrahi ran an allegedly low-tech operation — using shopping carts to haul the meters home. It is a pretty labor intensive way of making a living. Each meter holds about $70 in quarters.

Once he is arrested, they might want to specify bills only on his bond order.

For those of you rusty on your Cool Hand Luke quotations, here is the scene with Luke’s appearance at the work camp:

Lucas Jackson.

LUKE
Here, Captain.

CAPTAIN
Maliciously destroyin’ municipal
property while under the influence.
What was that?

LUKE
Cuttin’ the heads off parkin’ meters,
Captain.

CAPTAIN
Well, we ain’t never had one of them.
Where’d you think that was gonna get
you?

LUKE
I guess you could say I wasn’t
thinkin’, Captain.

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