Florida Man's Cab Ride From Jail Lands Him ... Back In Jail

A Florida man thought he was returning home from a stint in jail, but the ride home landed him back behind bars.

Charles Folk, 40, was released shortly after midnight on Thursday from the Brevard County Jail Complex, Florida Today reported, but he wasn't free for long. After a 30-mile cab ride to his home in Melbourne, Folk had no way to pay the $70 fare. Neither his sister nor his roommate could help him pay, Folk told the driver. Folk tried to arrange for his sister, who was out of town, to pay by phone, but the driver wouldn't accept that. 

Folk was arrested, charged with petty theft and made a return trip to the Brevard County Jail Complex, where he's being held in lieu of a $2,000 bail bond. 

Charles Folk

Folk was previously in jail after being convicted of criminal mischief for destroying his roommate’s possessions. Last October, Folk’s roommate came home to find her bedroom in disarray. Folk was behind the destruction of approximately $1,100 worth of items, which he attributed to drinking too much Captain Morgan rum, the Palm Bay Daily reported in 2017. He blamed the liquor for “raging out” and taking his roommate’s door off its hinges, smashing her mirrors and destroying her wooden bedroom set furniture with “fresh liquids,” according to the police report. Her desk and shelves were broken and police said an ax was laying on the bedroom floor amongst the rubble.

“I know why you’re here,” Folk told police at the time, according to the Palm Bay Daily. “It’s because I broke [the victim’s] things.”

It’s unclear if the two roommates still live together, or if he has a new roommate that he asked for money. Folk is no stranger to the jail. He has a lengthy rap sheet including being charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2014, according to online jail records.

[Photo: Brevard County Sheriff’s Office]