Every once in a while, our social media feeds are graced with memes of a middle-aged guy in a striped polo being forced into a car by several policemen. The moustached man, with all the theatrics of a trained actor, resists arrest by shouting all sorts of bizarre things to the cops, including the infamous line for which he has become known: “What is the charge? Eating a succulent Chinese meal”?
The Succulent Chinese Meal Man, AKA Paul Charles Dozsa, is as internet-famous as they get. But who is this strange man? And why was he even arrested? Years after the video was released, the internet is littered with strange rumours and stories about this man that are just as weird as his behaviour in the video.
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What Happened During The Succulent Chinese Meal Arrest?
On that fateful day of Charles Dozsa’s arrest, a handful of officers escort a man out of a Chinese restaurant and into a police car. Once he’s told he’s under arrest, Dozsa attempts to escape the grips of the policemen and, in an oddly posh accent, shouts “Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest”! And that’s just the first of many crazy quotes from the guy!
As if narrating his arrest to an audience, he goes “Have a look at the headlock over there”. Then, all of a sudden, Dozsa goes berserk, inexplicably screaming “GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY PENIS” and claiming that he’s being groped during the arrest. He questions the charge – dropping the most quotable of all quotes about being arrested for “eating a succulent Chinese meal”. He then proceeds to comment on one of the officer’s grappling skills, saying “I see you know your judo well”. Confused? Yeah, we all are.
At this point, you’d think the ridiculousness of the entire situation would die down, but instead he turns to a man waiting inside the car and – as eloquent as ever – says, “And you sir? Are you waiting to receive my limp penis”? Despite his bizarre protest, policemen were finally able to force him into the car.
What a doozy.
So, Who Was The Guy!?
The man in the YouTube video has since been identified as Hungarian native Paul Dozsa. The Daily Mail says he moved to Australia in the ‘60s and spent his time working as a chef and competing in professional chess tournaments. Yes, this guy wasn’t just some crazy old man – he was actually a chess champion!
Sadly, Dozsa, got into financial troubles (and, rumour has it that he had a drinking problem too) and around the mid-’80s he would dine and dash all over Sydney. One newspaper even called him “Sydney’s most prolific restaurant runner”. Just how often would he make his great escapes? The same report stated that Dozsa was convicted for enjoying and escaping from 54 meals from restaurants and hotels! Crazy!
Where Is He Now?
It isn’t very clear how much time Dozsa spent in prison for his 54 convictions and whether he repeated his dine and dash crimes after the famous arrest – the man was elusive.
Sadly, Dozsa reportedly passed away in 2003 after developing a brain tumour. Rumour has it that the tumour was causing Dozsa to have extremely paranoid thoughts, including something about “secret implants” by the government – just when you thought he couldn’t get any crazier.
Internet Fame
As Dozsa’s untimely death came six years before someone uploaded his arrest video, the man never had the opportunity to enjoy (or despise) his online notoriety. He became a running gag for weeks when the video was discovered, with remixes being released every other day and T-shirts with famous catchphrases being sold everywhere!
Eventually, the Chinese Succulent Meal guy became stamped in our collective memories – a snapshot of the bizarre internet humour that took over the early days of the internet.
Julian Assange: 2019’s Charles Dozsa?
Earlier this year, the famous words of Mr Dozsa were making their way into internet memes again, however, this time people weren’t talking about Dozsa anymore. WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange was kicked out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London in April, and as he was being dragged out by security, the bearded man drew a striking resemblance to the OG Succulent Chinese Meal guy.
Here’s to hoping the security personnel were staying as far away from Assange’s limp you-know-what as possible.
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