This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A Texas woman is in jail after being accused of stealing one dollar from a customer at a food truck – and then being unable to post $12,000 bail.

Gina Dianne Guidry, 52, is charged with theft from the person, an offense treated as a state jail felony in Texas, according to an affidavit in the case.

A customer was waiting for food she had bought from a food truck earlier this week in Cedar Park, on the outskirts of the state capital, Austin, when a woman – later identified as Guidry – approached her and demanded money.

When the customer refused, Guidry got close to her and was yelling in her face, according to the affidavit, as reported in the Austin American Statesman.

The customer received two dollars in change from the food truck operator, but Guidry snatched the money and walked away, prompting the customer to call the Austin police and report a robbery, the report said.

As officers interviewed the customer at the scene, she pointed at Guidry, who was still close by, and told police, “She was the one that took my money.” When the customer said two dollars was stolen, Guidry interjected and told police she only took $1, the affidavit said. She also told police she still had the dollar in her possession.

Bail was set at $12,000, but Guidry was unable to make such a high figure and was in the Travis county jail on Friday.

The money bail system has come under increasing criticism for its disproportionate effect on the poor and people of color, who have greater difficulties posting bail and securing pre-trial release.

Nationally, there has been a long fight for bail reform. Advocates argue that the system put in place makes wealth the determining factor in whether a person is at liberty or not while they wait for their case to play out.

In August 2018 California became the first state to eliminate bail. State lawmakers in Texas failed to pass a bail reform law in 2017 and some federal judges have called bail practices in Dallas and Harris counties unconstitutional.