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Source: CNN
A homeless man has been accused of breaking into a closed down California bar and selling alcohol to unsuspecting patrons, even prompting news coverage, before being recognized as a local transient.

The bar, called the Valencia Club, had gone out of business for some time and its liquor license had expired, police said this week.

But the suspect, Travis Lloyd Kevie, 29, somehow got into the California establishment in the Penryn area of Sacramento Valley last week. He reopened the bar using beer he bought from a nearby store.

Kevie allegedly started with a six-pack of beer and used money he received to buy more alcohol.

He kept the bar open for a weekend serving about 30 customers a day, authorities said.

He was so successful that a local newspaper did a story about the bar reopening.

“A local newspaper report alerted a Placer County Sheriff’s Office Detective of a possible ongoing crime being committed in the Penryn area,” the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said. “As Detective Jim Hudson read the morning newspaper he recognized an individual pictured on the front page as a local transient who has had numerous contact with the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.”

A detective went to the bar to determine if Kevie had obtained a liquor license.

“When Detective Hudson arrived at the Valencia Club it was open for business with customers bellied up to the bar. Upon questioning Kevie Detective Hudson determined that he had no connection to the property and he did not have a liquor license,” the department said.

Kevie was arrested Tuesday and charged with burglary and selling liquor without a license.

A large amount of alcohol and cash was also confiscated from the bar.

The newspaper, the Auburn Journal, that ran the story about the new “bar owner”, reported that Kevie was arraigned on a single misdemeanor charge Thursday and ordered released from jail.

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My Take: No Austin divorce lawyer or Nashville divorce attorney could possibly get their paws on this case. It’s simply not in their field or jurisdiction.  It’s going to be a fun one to represent.  I can imagine his defense attorney’s arguments in this one being hard to preset without a lot of courtroom laughter.  It could be the smartest thing this guy has done in years.  Imagine what the publicity will do for him?  He’s  no dummy, and any TN criminal attorney or Austin divorce attorney can see that.

These are the kinds of homelessness-turned-hero stories that make me laugh out loud.  I once read a story about a 14-year-old homeless kid who was running a Software testing products company out of the back of a car his parents owned.  He would charge $40 for a software test on his laptop and help fix and repair computers for a donation.  He eventually was written about in the press and landed his first job at a San Francisco tech firm.

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