One afternoon, sitting inside a boarding house in Lisbon and about to be kicked out after failing to pay the rent, this unemployed man [Carlos Garcia da Mata] with health problems who lives on a monthly pension of 240 euros decided that rather than sleep on the streets, he would prefer a prison cell. So he picked up a stone, walked over to a nearby store, took aim and smashed the display window. Then, as the alarms went off, he sat down to wait for the police.
As he expected, he ended up down at the station. But the judge decided that his offense was not jail worthy, and he was freed two days later. "I'll just do something bigger," he warned.
Which he did two days later, convincing another bank teller to hand over 3,000 Euros, then made his 'getaway' in a taxi he hailed. Not too surprisingly the police managed to catch up with him before he could spend any of his loot.
Which still wasn't enough of a crime to get jail time. He was sentenced to community service, which came with a bed in a shelter.
It would probably cost $100 (EU 75) per day to keep him in prison. His pension is only $10 per day. He has a lot of negotiating room for committing minor crimes.
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