INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Wayback Burgers Offers Five Guys ‘Hamburglar’ Free Food For One Year

By Robert Jonathan
Published on: 13:26 PST, Apr 12, 2016

Wayback Burgers has cooked up an offer for the still-at-large Five Guys “hamburglar.”

The offer: Turn yourself in and get free Wayback burgers for a year.

The alleged hamburglar made national headlines after Washington, D.C., cops released security camera video of what they call a person of interest who allegedly broke into a Five Guys Burger and Fries restaurant, fired up the grill, and apparently made himself a cheeseburger or two.

The incident in the Columbia Heights area of the city captured on the subsequently viral video (embedded below) — which cops released earlier this month — actually occurred “way back” in March 18, sometime after 3 a.m.

“A suspect followed a delivery man into the D.C. restaurant and waited until the delivery man left.The suspect then rummaged through the establishment, cooked food, and stole bottled water before leaving the restaurant, police said,” CBS News explained.

In general, security footage doesn’t usually show people breaking into eateries in order to cook themselves food, the Inquisitr previously observed.

In a statement from John Eucalitto, the president of Five Guys competitor Wayback Burgers, the company made this overture to the suspect, Restaurant News reported, in exchange for his surrender to law enforcement authorities.

“As you may be aware, there is a gentleman who broke in and made himself a burger at another restaurant brand last month in the D.C. area and is still at large. To that gentleman, I’d like to say that we all make mistakes — from committing this illegal act to your choice of burgers. I strongly encourage you to do the right thing and turn yourself in right away. After you take accountability for your actions, Wayback Burgers will give you free burgers for one year. It’s not too late to turn it around based on what you did. We’ll be keeping an eye on this story.”

While quipping that “we think he chose the wrong burger,” Eucallito acknowledged to the Washington City Paper that “we think actions like this are wrong,” adding that Wayback is willing to gift the suspect one free burger per week during the designated year, which could include the massive Triple Triple (nine burger patties plus nine cheese slices). “That should be more than enough to keep him full and satisfy his cravings so he doesn’t do it again.”

If convicted of burglary, the Five Guys midnight snack suspect could face a penalty ranging from two to 15 years in jail.

A maximum $1,000 reward is on the table from the D.C. Crime Solvers for a tip that leads to the Five Guys hamburglar’s arrest.

Based in Connecticut although it originated in Delaware, Wayback Burgers has approximately 100 locations in 25 states, with more outlets planned, while the more well known Virginia-based Five Guys chain has around 1,000 restaurants across the country. Both franchises also have international expansion plans.

“The other catch to this gimmick is that the [Wayback’s] closest location to D.C. is in Ashburn, Va. Wayback Burgers is also opening a location inside the Washington Navy Yard military base in July, but as Eucalitto notes, ‘If he has a record, I don’t think he’s not going to be able to go there,'” the City Paper added about the alleged Five Guys hamburglar.

In a completely unrelated incident, three female Five Guys workers in the South Beach nightclub district of Miami Beach brawled with a female customer on Halloween night 2015 in cellphone video that also went viral.

Do you think that Wayback Burgers has made an offer (and/or a publicity stunt) that the Five Guys hamburglar can or cannot refuse?

[Photo by Stephan Savoia/AP]

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