Sylvan Beach, NY – Four people who left a Sylvan Beach restaurant without paying their bills turned to the police for help when they locked themselves out of their car, New York State Police said Tuesday.

Now they face theft of services charges.

On May 7, Stephanie Rewkowski, 17, of DeWitt Street., Syracuse walked into the Sylvan Beach state police station. She told troopers that she had locked her keys in the car and asked for their help. She said AAA would take too long to respond. Troopers gave her the number of a local garage.

Rewkowski then left the station.

Minutes later, Oneida County 911 dispatched the troopers to Cinderella’s Restaurant on Main Street in Sylvan Beach where an employee saw two men and two women leave the restaurant without paying for their meals.

The employee followed the people to their car, and told the 911 dispatcher that they had locked themselves out of the vehicle.

When troopers arrived, they said they found Rewkowski standing by her car along with, Joseph Zippi,18, of Glencove Road South, Samuel Mekete, 20, of DeWitt Street, and Sierra Washington, 17, of Maplehurst Avenue. They are all from Syracuse.

The employee identified the four as being the same people who had left the restaurant without paying.

The four gave conflicting reasons for why they left without paying, and all were charged with theft of services, troopers said. They were given appearance tickets and told to return to the Village of Sylvan Beach court on June 7.