When someone can’t pay their cab fare due to their level of intoxication, law enforcement officers will sometimes place the individual in Southeastern Ohio Jail until they sober up.
When partygoers leave the bars and climb into a cab — hoping to wind up in a cozy bed — they’re occasionally too drunk to pay a proper fare, and wind up in jail instead.
If riders can’t pay the cab fare or find a ride home with a sober driver, they’ll be held for six hours at the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail until deemed sober, Jeremy Tolson, warden of the jail, said.
Six hours is about how long it takes for someone to “sober up,” Tolson said.
If a cab passenger is too incoherent to pay a proper fare, the driver decides whether to call local law enforcement officers, who decide what happens next.
If police are called, Athens Sheriff Rodney Smith said those intoxicated individuals would usually receive a theft charge, for which fine cost and incarceration time vary from crime to crime, as well as a disorderly conduct by intoxication charge, a minor misdemeanor punishable by paying a fine of no more than $150, according to Ohio law.
“Normally someone goes to a bar … and they’re just so intoxicated they can’t find their wallet, or they just don’t have any money,” Smith said.
In February, the Athens County Sheriff’s Office received a call to dispatch regarding an intoxicated female who refused to pay her cab fare.
Deputies eventually were able to get her to pay the fare, but due to her level of intoxication, she was transported to SEORJ to be held until sober. Deputies were unable to find a sober individual to take responsibility for her, according to a sheriff’s office news release.
“(Cab companies) call us, and we’ll make the determination if they’re too intoxicated to take care of themselves,” Smith said.
In February, SEORJ held 38 intoxicated individuals for six-hour holding periods until they were sober.
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“Anyone that comes through our doors has to have a criminal charge — doesn’t matter what that charge is, everyone’s going to be treated the same,” Tolson said. “They stay in a cell, and we give them bedding, and they sleep it off.”
Tolson said SEORJ experiences events like these on a nightly basis and usually holds 45 to 60 people a month who need sobering up.
Depending on how long the individual is kept at the facility, he or she might be served a meal costing the jail about $1.23.
Christopher Talley, owner of TABS Taxi in Athens, said someone refused to pay the fare about two years ago and jumped out of the cab — prompting him to call the police.
“Law enforcement took care of it professionally,” Talley said.
Talley said his company tries to avoid situations like that by sometimes asking for cab fare as soon as the passenger gets in the vehicle, which is $9 plus tax within city limits, with an additional $2 for every extra person.
Green Cab, however, is $3 for anywhere in uptown Athens, $6 for anything past Richland Avenue’s bridge and $3 for every extra person riding in the vehicle.
Talley’s company’s traffic levels vary throughout the year but peak with the Athens Halloween Block Party. The rest of the year, Talley said he’s driving around “regulars.”
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