If “dine-and-dash” at an Aurora restaurant and get caught, you’ll go to jail for three days under a new law that passed first reading Monday at the Aurora City Council meeting.
The ordinance adds a minimum three-day jail sentence for people who try to walk out on dinner checks of $15 or more. It’s just the latest in a string of bills by council member Danielle Jurinsky, a small business owner, aimed at cracking down on thieves. The council also approved Monday the first reading of an ordinance establishing a minimum three-day jail sentence for thieves who steal items of $100 or more. The council also approved the first reading of an ordinance to require a 90-day minimum jail sentence for those who steal a second time and a 180-day minimum sentence for third time offenders.
The city has seen an uptick in thefts and dine-and-dash crimes in the Havana District in particular, according to police. Jurinsky wants to show criminals that if you steal in Aurora, you’re going to jail.
The issue of sending people to jail proved especially sensitive Monday. The conservative-led City Council has directed the city manager’s office to outsource the city’s award-winning public defender’s office if it makes fiscal sense. Many people said Monday that to send people to jail is expensive. City Attorney Pete Schulte said it costs about $135 per day when they have to reimburse counties for housing prisoners, which isn’t often.