Man posing as U.S. Marshal walks out on $3 beer tab

A man posing as a U.S. Marshal walked out on his $3 tab for a Corona beer at a South Tallahassee restaurant in October, police say.

Now John A. Monk, 29, is facing charges of impersonating an officer, carrying a concealed weapon, petit theft and possession of marijuana.

He was arrested on a warrant Monday by the Tallahassee Police Department and is being held in the Leon County Jail on $5,000 bond.

A manager of Hobbit American Grill on Capital Circle Southwest called police Oct. 11 to report that Monk had entered the restaurant openly carrying a gun, flashlight and wearing a badge, court records say.

He told the manager he was a U.S. Marshal as he ordered a beer and then walked outside to smoke a cigarette. The manager followed, struck up a conversation in which Monk told him “this was ‘his jurisdiction.’”

Monk left the restaurant without paying for his beer. The manager told police he was “freaked" out and called 911.

Monk was identified by workers of the restaurant because he had dated a former employee, court records say, but they dispelled his claim that he was a Marshal.

In an interview with police in November, Monk initially denied being at Hobbit, carrying a firearm or badge and identifying himself as a Marshal.

He later recanted, telling investigators the weapon was an Airsoft gun, a replica of an actual gun that typically shoots plastic BBs, and that he was shooting at his Dent Street home prior to going to the Hobbit.

Monk said he fled the restaurant because he became nervous when the manager confronted him about the gun.

Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.