Sucker's Game

Anthony Milli's interest was roused the minute he laid eyes on the young fellow. Mr. Milli is a subway cop, sensitive to subway manners, and there was something about the way the young man sauntered into a Brooklyn subway station that looked suspicious. Milli hid in a nearby booth and watched him.

The young man dropped a coin in the turnstile, walked out on to the platform. But instead of boarding a train, he stood there and watched while three other people came through the turnstile after him. Then he looked hastily around, darted to the turnstile, put his lips to the coin slot, sucked. At this point the amazed Mr. Milli bounded out of hiding and grabbed him. In the young man's mouth. Milli later declared, was a nickel.

Appearing with his captive before Magistrate Charles Solomon. Milli explained how it was done: the ingenious and germ-defying young man, who said that he was Chester Madzenski, dropped a squashed penny into the slot; it stuck there, instead of falling into the coin box. Subsequent nickels piled up on top of it. Madzenski apparently had it figured out that when three nickels had been dropped on top of his penny, the last one would be near enough to the top so that he could suck it out.

Said Magistrate Solomon, holding Madzenski in $1,000 bail: "This is the most unique form of larceny I've ever encountered. But it goes to show that dishonesty in any form is still a sucker's game."

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