f13.net

Police: Meat Bandit Nabbed in Golf Cart (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GETAWAY_CART?SITE=MTHEL&SECTION=STRANGE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT)

Dec 28, 4:14 PM EST

MEDINA, Ohio (AP) -- It might have been a perfect getaway - after all, who would suspect that a person with a purloined roast would flee in a stolen golf cart? Samuel Dottore, 45, told a judge he intended to drive the cart about 40 miles from Medina to his home in Cleveland.

And it was working. He even stopped for gas.

But police searching for him as a suspect in the swiped meat caper nabbed him and the frozen roast.

Dottore pleaded guilty to theft Tuesday in Medina County Common Pleas Court. Judge Christopher Collier will sentence him Feb. 13 for stealing the golf cart.

Dottore's plight dates back about two months, when he met a couple in a bar and went to their home. A few hours later, the couple were driving him to a motel when he pulled out the frozen meat. They told police they dropped him along a roadside and returned home.

Police said Dottore then stole a golf cart from King George Service Co. and tried to make it his ride out of town.

Dottore does not have a listed telephone and could not be reached for comment. His lawyer, Paul Grant, declined comment Wednesday.

In court, Dottore told the judge he'd been drinking that day, and that alcohol mixed with the psychiatric medication he takes daily affects his judgment. Collier allowed Dottore to be released on bond until sentencing.

Dottore told the judge he'd been drinking that day, and that alcohol mixed with the psychiatric medication he takes daily affects his judgment