A former Georgia pitcher was arrested for shoplifting a bag of peanuts early Sunday morning in downtown Athens.
Michael Palazzone was arrested by Athens-Clarke County police at the Lay-Z Shopper after he tried to leave the convenience store with a bag of peanuts valued at $1 in his pocket, according an incident report filed with Athens-Clarke County police.
According to the report, Palazzone was observed by a Lay-Z Shopper employee putting a bag of peanuts in his pocket just after midnight on Sunday. Palazzone then paid for an energy drink but not the peanuts and was stopped by a store employee as he left, according to the report.
When police asked Palazzone about the peanuts, “He said that he tried to take them and that he had been drinking a lot,” the report said. Palazzone had money to pay for the peanuts in his pocket and offered to pay for them after he was discovered, the report said.
Palazzone was arrested for misdemeanor shoplifting $0.01-to-$500 and booked into Athens-Clarke County jail at 2:33 a.m. Sunday. He posted a $1,500 bond and was released at 11:13 a.m. on Sunday.
Palazzone ended his four-year career in 2012 tied for No. 9 in Georgia’s all-time wins list with 19 and pitched a total of 300.1 innings. His best season was as a junior in 2011 when he went 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA and 78 strikeouts. He ranked fifth in the nation for fewest walks with 11 and was named to the 2011 all-Southeastern Conference Tournament team. He graduated with a finance degree and was twice named to the SEC academic honor roll and the Georgia honor roll.