Half Baked? Kids Arrested for Selling Cupcakes
Teens in New York were busted by police for illegal sales recently. It's not what you might think, however. The 13-year-olds weren't charged with selling drugs, they were busted for selling cupcakes.
Young entrepreneurs Andrew DeMarchis and Kevin Graff were turned in to local cops for running their illegal operations selling cupcakes, cookies, brownies and other items that were a threat to public safety. According to the New York Daily News, when local Councilman Michael Wolfensohn spotted the stall the kids were running with two schoolmates, he promptly ratted them out. A sheepish police officer had to actually go tell the kids that they were being shut down.
These outlaw kids were so well behaved, they didn't even have a record with the school principal, according to reports. So why the ruckus? No health department permit required for all vendors on town property, said law and order Councilman Wolfensohn. Needless to report, the kids were quite upset by the experience of having the police on their case. "Kevin was so upset, he was crying the whole way home. He was worried if he was going to get arrested or have a criminal record," said Andrew's mother, Suzanne DeMarchis, who was called to the scene.
So what to do with all that youthful entrepreneurial energy? According to the Daily News, DeMarchis and Graff had a plan. They were going to save up the money from selling cupcakes to open a restaurant. But now, there aren't too many money making options open to them.
"I don't get too many offers for baby-sitting, and we live in a development, so shoveling snow is not an option either," Andrew told the local paper. "We were being entrepreneurs, but now I feel a little defeated."
Maybe they should use their extra time to work on a recall campaign. Just a suggestion.
Related Resources:
- New Castle councilman calls cops on boys' cupcake sale (The Journal News)
- Licenses and Permits: Overview (FindLaw)
- Kid's Lemonade Stand Shut Down by County Inspectors (FindLaw's Legally Weird)
- Cupcake Lady Truck Seized by Philly Inspectors (FindLaw's Free Enterprise)