The Netflix documentary Bad Vegan tells the story of how the queen of vegan cuisine, Sarma Melngailis, went from a celebrated New York restaurateur and author to a headline-grabbing fugitive who would later be arrested and plead guilty to numerous felonies after funneling more than $1.6 million from her businesses.
Sarma’s downfall began thanks to a romance sparked on Twitter. The man she would eventually fall for went by many names, including Shane Fox. However, Prince Harming’s real name is Anthony Strangis, and he had a long history of shady behavior well before meeting Sarma on social media.
As revealed on Bad Vegan, Anthony was arrested in Florida in 2005 and charged with impersonating an officer — a felony. Producers shared an excerpt from the probable cause affidavit on Bad Vegan with a brief snippet from the arrest narrative. We’ve obtained a copy of the full document and can fill in the rest of the narrative for you.
Everything started when Anthony got into an argument with a woman, which I assume was his wife, Stacy Strangis. The woman was in the driver’s seat of a parked Jeep Cherokee and Anthony was reportedly yelling at her from outside the vehicle. The commotion was heard by an off duty police officer who lived nearby.
Here is the full narrative from the probable cause affidavit:
On 3/22/05 at approximately 2150, I was off duty and inside my residence. I heard loud yelling coming from the street on 4th Ave Dr W. I saw a white Jeep Cherokee in the street.
I approached the vehicle and saw a white male leaning in the driver’s window, talking to a white female, who was the driver. I attempted to speak to the male and told him to leave. He ignored me and I informed him that I was a deputy and was calling in the disturbance.
He then walked from the driver’s window to the front of the Cherokee, which was running, and pulled a wallet out and opened it, flashing me a badge. He held the badge up over his head. He said he was a police officer from Massachusetts, and he was leaving. He then walked to the passenger side of the vehicle and got in.
In the meantime, I was calling in the disturbance on my police radio. I spoke briefly with the male and saw there were baby car seats in the vehicle. I looked to make sure there were not any children in the vehicle. The male stated to me there were no children in the car. The female then backed the vehicle up and drove east on 43rd St.
Dep. Holmes was in the area and observed the vehicle leaving the subdivision and conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle to determine the safety of the female that was involved in the disturbance.
The male was identified as Anthony Strangis, and he stated to Dep. Holmes that he did show me a badge, but that he tried to explain to me it was his father’s badge. Strangis did have his fathers “Retired” Massachusetts badge with him.
Strangis went to jail on an unrelated warrant out of Sarasota.
Anthony Strangis was charged with a felony count of falsely impersonating an officer. The prosecutor would later drop the charge without prejudice on April 15, 2005.
There was some other interesting information in the court documents from the case. The affidavit indicates that Anthony had a “Stacey” [sic] tattoo on his right wrist. Anthony also told officers that he was a salesman at Appliance Depot.
Some other questions answered by the arrest report:
When was Anthony Strangis born? How old is he? Anthony Strangis’ birthday is December 20, 1980. He was 24 at the time of his arrest and is 41 at the time of this post.
How tall is Anthony Strangis? His height is listed as six feet, 3 inches.
How much did Anthony Strangis weigh when he was arrested? His weight is listed as 280 pounds.
Anthony Strangis Grand Larceny Arrest In Florida
You may have noticed that the narrative from the probable cause affidavit above indicates that Anthony Strangis “went to jail on an unrelated warrant out of Sarasota.”
There is a felony case shown for Anthony in Sarasota County in 2005, but it is listed as “sealed” on the court’s website with no additional information available.
However, The Daily Beast did an exposé on Anthony Strangis after he and Sarma Melngailis were arrested in Tennessee in May of 2016 that may shed some light on his other arrest(s).
The Daily Beast spoke with Anthony’s ex-wife, Stacy Strangis, who mentioned that Anthony had been convicted of grand larceny “for allegedly selling his father’s Jaguar.” It’s unclear if this was the same 2005 felony case in Sarasota that has since been sealed.
In another amazing aspect of the Anthony and Sarma story that was not included on Bad Vegan, Anthony was arrested in 2014 after winning $164,000 at a Connecticut casino! This was a year and a half after he and Sarma got married in Las Vegas!
From The Daily Beast exposé:
Connecticut cops cuffed Strangis on a warrant out of Florida after he won two jackpots worth $164,000 at Foxwoods. At the time, Strangis was a wanted man in Sarasota County for violating probation on a grand larceny conviction and charged with being a fugitive from justice.
He posted a $50,000 cash bond…
(When asked about the charge, a Sarasota County sheriff’s spokeswoman said she had no record of Strangis, indicating the record was likely expunged.)
Only a month later, Strangis was holding a meeting for Pure managers, telling them he’d buy the company from Melngailis “on paper,” according to the Brooklyn indictment.
Where is Anthony Strangis now?
Anthony would eventually plead guilty to four counts of fourth-degree grand larceny. At the time of his sentencing, Anthony had been in prison for a year due to not being able to post his bond. He was sentenced to time served and received five years probation.
Anthony Strangis’ probation is scheduled to end in May of 2022. His whereabouts are currently unknown, but it does appear that he and Sarma remain in limited contact.
Bad Vegan starts with a taped phone conversation between Sarma and Anthony talking about Netflix filming the documentary.
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
