He filled his water cup with soda — now he’s facing a felony, Montana cops say

The fast food fight began when Daniel Stine filled his water cup with soda, police told KTMF.

The 48-year-old man asked for the water cup at a fast food restaurant in Missoula, Montana, but an employee caught him filling his free cup with soda, the station reported.

That employee then confronted the soda-stealing man, Missoula Police Public Information Officer Travis Welsh told KGVO.

“When confronted by an employee who informed him that he had to pay for the cup of soda, he refused and left out one of the entrances,” Welsh told the station.

But the fast food employee wasn’t having it, so the worker followed Stine and “told him that he was not welcome back,” Welsh told KGVO.

While in the parking lot, Stine tried to kick the employee who confronted him, KTMF reported. That’s when police saw Stine flee to another restaurant before hiding into a restroom, according to the station .

“The officers attempted to take control of him physically and that’s when he began to resist and fight with the officers and had to be tased to comply to the officer’s instructions,” Welsh told KGVO.

Stine was then booked into the Missoula County Jail at about 3:35 p.m. on Aug. 9, according to inmate records. He is facing a felony robbery charge in addition to four misdemeanors, including obstructing a peace officer or other public servant, resisting arrest, criminal trespass to property and disorderly conduct, physical contact.

This isn’t the first time someone has been arrested after allegedly stealing soda in a water cup.

In 2016, a McDonald’s manager in Arkansas told police that three men asked for large waters in the drive-thru before going inside, dumping the water and filling the water cups with soda, 40/29News reported. One of the men was arrested on suspicion of felony robbery after refusing to return the soda, the station reported.

And in 2012 a Florida man was arrested by Collier County deputies after getting soda in his water cup at McDonald’s, Time reported.