We know the economy is bad and people are eating less, but now we know that the quality of crime at upscale eateries also is on the decline.

Two years ago, we learned about Tommy Bromwell's visit to Ruth's Chris steakhouse in 2001 -- an undercover FBI agent posing as an Atlanta businessman secretly taped the meeting enabling us all to eavesdrop on a profane conversation that had it all: women, booze (whiskey with cherry juice, no less!), sex and bribery.

Ruth's Chris on Water Street near the Inner Harbor is back in the police reports, though lavish dinners sprinkled with recollections of infamous politicians, hob-nobbing with old Colts stars,  owning politicians and bragging about being a rainmaker appears to be out.

The new crime in these hard-times: trying to snag a free meal with an Independence card that provides government assistance to buy food. You can buy produce at the supermarket; you can't buy a steak at Ruth's Chris, as we learn from Baltimore Sun police reporter Richard Irwin in his blotter.

But that's exactly what police say a man tried to do Sunday night. He walked in to the elegant dining room at 8:50 pm. and ordered, according to court charging documents, one side of broccoli, three Budweisers, one slice of cheesecake and one filet. Probably not in that order. The bill came to $67.16.

"Upon presenting the tab to the suspect, the suspect produced an Independence card that was declined," the Baltimore police charging document states. "I then asked the suspect how he was going to pay the bill and he stated that he didn't have any money. The suspect was placed under arrest."

Michael W. Feullard, 27, was charged with one count of theft under $300. He was released from jail on personal bail but I was not able to find him. The address he gave to police, and the phone number, belonged to an old roommate who told me Feullard hadn't been there in months.

What is odd is that Feullard, or his alias, Fullard, doesn't have a single notation on his arrest record throughout Maryland. Makes me curious as to who he is. I also wanted to know what he was wearing -- suit and tie? -- whether he had any money for a tip, whether he was nice to the wait staff and why he couldn't just wash dishes (did they ever do that?), but the manager who had him arrested, Chris Allen, wasn't at work and other officials referred me to the restaurant chain's marketing department. Two calls were not returned.

Thus, I was not able to learn what each item the man ordered cost, nor was I able to determine what exactly he had for his main course. The filet, described by the restaurant's on-line menu as "the most tender cut of corn-fed Midwestern beef" or the petit filet, described as "a smaller, but equally tender filet."