T.G.I.FindLaw! Food Crime Spikes During the Holidays

It's almost the end of the year. This means one thing: everybody's trying to get their eat on. Diets be damned, as there are only a few more days until the popular New Year's resolution to lose weight kicks in.

This edition of T.G.I.FindLaw! highlights some of the weird food-related happenings that occurred this week.

Ready to have your curiosity sated, your appetite piqued, and your faith in mankind questioned? Read on!

Florida teens broke into a restaurant to cook.

Two teenagers broke into a Florida Chinese restaurant. No, they didn't steal kitchen utensils. They broke into the restaurant to cook. Specifically, they fired up some chicken gizzards. Police said they believed the boys couldn't find money so they decided to help themselves to a snack. They were arrested and charged with burglary and petit theft.

Pecan thieves terrorize Georgia nut orchards.

One pound of pecans nets you a cool $1.50. Doesn't sound like a lot? Well, what if you managed to steal a few thousand pounds of the delicious nuts? Apparently, nut theft is a growing problem in Georgia's orchards.

It usually takes growers a few days to mechanically scoop pecans off the ground after they've been shaken off trees. During that lapse in time, it's all too easy for nut thieves to swoop in. Nut theft: it's a real problem.

Florida civics teacher arrested for hash brown battery.

Simone Paolercio, a middle school teacher, was arrested for misdemeanor battery. Her crime? She chucked a hash brown at a McDonald's drive-thru employee. The scuffle started when the manager refused to give Paolercio a refund for an incorrect order.

Paolercio says she was simply setting the food down on the windowsill when the offending piece of fried potato tumbled out of the bag. Watch the video below - what do you think?

That's it for this week's foodie edition of T.G.I.FindLaw! Share your thoughts with us on our FindLaw for Consumers Facebook page. Or, follow our tweets. Want some legal news delivered straight to your email inbox? Sign up for our Legal Grounds newsletter.

Related Resources:

• T.G.I.FindLaw! The Week's Strangest Legal News (FindLaw's Legal Grounds)
• Florida Woman Assaults Roommate With Butter (FindLaw's Legally Weird)
• Deputy Investigated Burger King Servers Over Wrong Food Order (FindLaw's Legally Weird)
• NJ Cop Sues Deli Over Revenge Bagel With Pubic Hair (FindLaw's Legally Weird)