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‘Mac & Cheese Kid’ arrested in Florida for assault on officer

Posted at 10:06 AM, Jun 29, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-29 10:06:38-04

Luke Gatti mugshotBOCA RATON, Florida -- It's been several months since you first heard the name Luke Gatti. The former UConn student's alcohol-infused tirade in search of bacon jalapeno mac and cheese went viral in October 2015.

Now, records from the Palm Beach county Sheriff's Office show he was arrested last month, charged with battery on an officer or EMT, and resisting an officer with violence.

Officers were trying to take Gatti, 20, into custody after he ran away from the Wellness Resource Center barefoot just hours after arriving.

Gatti arrived at the rehabilitation center May 27 after spending time at a detox center in Fort Lauderdale for treatment for addiction to alcohol and drugs. He was released on bond on Tuesday, May 31.

Mac and cheese incidentThe New York native was caught on camera last fall fighting with a food service employee when he refused to serve him macaroni and cheese because he was carrying an open container of alcohol in the cafeteria. Gatti was eventually taken down by a UConn officer.

A few days after the UConn incident, he released a video apology.

"I've got some problems that I am addressing. This was serious a wake-up call," Gatti said at the time. The dispute was the third incident in which Gatti had been arrested for disorderly conduct since September 2014. The first two incidents occurred in the fall of 2014 when he was a student at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

In December, a Superior Court judge granted accelerated rehabilitation to Gatti, which allows for the charges of misdemeanor breach of peace and criminal trespassing to be dropped after he completes the one year of probation. He was sentenced to an 100 hours of community service at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter.

Gatti pleaded not guilty to the Florida charges and is due back in court July 27.