Latest news with #restauranttheft
Daily Mail
04-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Dine and dasher fled restaurant without paying for £50 meal - as police issue pictures of man
A dine-and-dasher enjoyed a two-course meal at a popular seaside restaurant before leaving without paying. Two images of a man have been released by police who are investigating the unpaid bill at Hinnies Restaurant in Whitley Bay. Officers received a report that a man had entered the restaurant between 1.45pm and 2pm on June 4 and ordered a two-course meal and drinks. The diner then left the restaurant without paying the bill, which the restaurant claims to have come to around £50. Northumbria Police say that their enquiries are ongoing and are appealing for anyone who recognises the man pictured to come forward. The force added that the man was 'in the area at the time' and believe he would be able to help with their investigation. A police spokesperson said: 'Recognise this man? We would like to speak to him as we investigate a report of making off without payment in North Tyneside. 'We received a report that a man had entered Hinnies Restaurant on East Parade in Whitley Bay between 1.45pm and 2pm on Wednesday, June 4. The diner then left the restaurant without paying the bill, which the restaurant claims to have come to around £50 'The man then ordered a two-course meal which he ate before leaving without paying. 'Enquiries into the report are ongoing and today we are releasing images of a man who we would like to identify. 'He was in the area at the time and we believe he may be able to assist with our enquiries. 'The man, or anyone who knows who he is, should send us a direct message on social media or use the live chat or report forms on our website. 'For those unable to make contact via those ways, call 101. Please quote crime reference number 063598X/25.'
The Sun
20-06-2025
- The Sun
Watch moment laughing dine & dashers run away from restaurant after wracking up $200 bill gorging on shrimp & lobster
THIS is the shocking moment a trio of giggling dine and dashers fleece $200 from a restaurant after munching down on shrimp and lobster. Appalling CCTV footage showed the heartless robbers running away without paying as they laughed like children - sending disgusted social media users into a rage. 3 3 3 The perpetrators took the free meal from local restaurant Phlavz Bar & Grille in University Village, Chicago - after racking up an immense $200 bill. In the upsetting clip, the cruel group can be seen eating near the corner of the outdoor seating area. One tall man is seen making a dash first, before two women follow behind him. The third woman appears to hesitate, but quickly makes a run for it when she realises what is happening. Co-owner of the local business Andrew Bonsu told ABC7: "It's actually disappointing, very disappointing to see that from the community we actually serve. "We pour into the community." The business's other co-owner Phil Simpson emphasised the damage done, saying: "The young lady that was serving that table, she's got kids at home. "She gets a percentage of that tip. "She worked hard to serve that table. They had a lot of food." He added: "We are a small business, and you see this happen so often to different small businesses throughout the city, and you have to do something." The pair took action by posting the group's moronic behaviour to social media. And it didn't take long for the online manhunt to identify the brazen trio. Simpson said that since the insensitive act, he was actually now in contact with one of the thieves. He added that they actually offered to pay the bill after realising how stupid they had been. But he said this was not the first instance of a dine-and-dash happening at his restaurant. He emphasised that his business was struggling to keep up with the costs of goods and services going up - and soulless robberies like these were not helping. The owners filed a police report to get the issue sorted out the "right way" rather than accept the thieves' belated cash. Simpson said: "They apologized. They sent someone to pay the bill, but I declined to accept it. "At that point, we are going to pursue this the right way." In March, a suspected thief accused of stealing nearly $1,000 in sushi and drinks from a restaurant chain was busted after his sneaky dine-and-dash tactics backfired. The suspect, who had been a thorn in the side of two Sushi Confidential locations in California, was caught after he tried to flee once again without paying.
Daily Mail
18-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Dine-and-dashers' appallingly smug act as they get up from restaurant table and run away without paying
A trio of dine-and-dashers smiled smugly as they fled a Chicago restaurant without paying for their $200 lunch. The group was caught on surveillance cameras running off from their outdoor table at Phlavz Bar and Grille in the Windy City on Monday. The suspects, a man and two women, can be seen siting at the table before the man quickly gets up and shuffles away from the restaurant. The women quickly follow him. A table of two seated near them watch the whole thing unfold, the video shows, as a server comes out and approaches the now-empty table. According to co-owner Andrew Bonsu, the thieving diner made off without paying their $200 tab for a shrimp and lobster dinner. 'It's actually disappointing, very disappointing to see that from the community we actually serve,' Bonsu told ABC7. 'We pour into the community.' Phlavz co-owner Phil Simpson added: ' The young lady that was serving that table, she's got kids at home. 'She gets a percentage of that tip. She worked hard to serve that table. They had a lot of food.' Simpson added that he had seen the dine-and-dash trend popping up across the city, and decided to share the clip of the three to the restaurant's social media accounts in hopes of curtailing it. Before long, online sleuths had managed to identify the three who Simpson said he has since been in contact with. 'They apologized. They sent someone to pay the bill, but I declined to accept it,' he said. 'At that point, we are going to pursue this the right way.' The owners decided to file a report for theft of labor or services with local police. 'For us to put our hard-earned money into this and set this up for our community, to see things like this happening, it's tasteless,' Bonsu added. 'It's important to at least let them know Phlavz is not going to be tolerating the dine-and-dash.' The president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, Sam Toia, told the outlet that dine-and-dash has been on the rise since the onset of the pandemic. 'We see this dine-and-dash really hurt the independent restaurants. It definitely ticks up in the summer months,' he said. Under Illinois law, theft of services under $500 constitutes a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year behind bars and a fine of $2,500. In March of this year, three brazen women skipped out on paying their $262.11 bill at trendy Chicago eatery Soul Vibez. Surveillance footage showed the women exited the restaurant one-by-one within just 30 seconds of their server stepping away from the table. Chicago police investigating the incident had their jobs made easier after the masterminds failed to conceal their identities. They provided their real names and phone numbers when adding themselves to the restaurant's waitlist before being seated, FOX32 reported. The alleged thieves then took to social media to boast about their crime, actually tagging Soul Vibez in posts thanking them for the 'free food.'
Daily Mail
18-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Toby Carvery 'dine and dashers' are hunted by police after diners left restaurant without paying their bill
A trio of 'Dine and dashers' who fled a Toby Carvery restaurant without paying the bill are being hunted by police. The diners enjoyed a meal at the popular British pub chain in Nottingham Road, Chaddesden, On Tuesday May 20. Officers have now issued a public appeal for help with their investigation as they attempt to track the diners down. An image released by police shows two men and one woman stood in the pub with a blank expression on their faces. The men have their arms crossed and wear black sleeveless shirts while the woman, in a green/grey hoodie, has her hands on her hips. Anyone who recognises the individuals in the photo has been asked to contact the force on 101, or via the police Facebook page or website, quoting the reference number 25000292348. Information can also be passed on to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, or via the charity's website. Toby Carvery is a British chain brand which consists of 158 restaurants. The diners enjoyed a meal at the popular British pub chain (pictured) in Nottingham Road, Chaddesden, On Tuesday May 20 Branding itself as 'home to the Sunday roast dinner', Toby Carvery meals typically come in at around £10 - though prices vary. A number of other dine and dash moments have been filmed in Britain in recent months including in Chinese restaurants and a family-run Indian eatery. In March, a shameless group racked up a bill of nearly £300 - which included ordered extras - at the Indian restaurant before complaining about the food and refusing to pay. Jumeira, the family-run business in Staplehurst, Kent, released CCTV of the customers who ate their food. Faheem Ahmed, 26, said the group of four adults and four children finished a selection of main dishes and said they were 'happy' with them when waiters checked. The brazen customers even ordered extra helpings and dishes to take away before quickly hurling insults after being handed the bill. Despite staff checking in several times throughout the night, Mr Ahmed's team received no previous complaints about the food or the environment. It was only when presented with coughing up the £287 bill for all their food that the group claimed they were 'not happy with the meal and service' and quickly became 'aggressive, intimidating and abusive' to staff. That same month, glamorous dine and dash mothers tried their luck at a Chinese restaurant in west London, sparking outrage among locals. The incident took place on March 23 at popular eatery Pangs Chinese in Uxbridge, where the family enjoyed a meal before leaving without paying their bill. Footage shows two women and two young children leaving the restaurant, as a member of staff tries to stop them from leaving. A separate clip then focusses on the two mothers and their kids getting into a white car in the restaurant's parking area. One waiter is seen approaching the car, but the women manage to speed off as he tries to speak with them. The waiter frantically chases after the vehicle, but quickly gives up. Taking to Facebook to report the incident, Pangs Chinese shared CCTV footage in an attempt to identify the family. 'Dine and is crazy', the restaurant wrote in the caption. 'The scums tried to run me over with their believe they had two kids with them.' The restaurant confirmed the escape had been reported to the police, who were 'looking out for the pair'.
BBC News
13-05-2025
- BBC News
How 'dine-and-dash' Port Talbot couple were exposed by viral CCTV
Imagine ordering T-bone steaks and desserts at a family-run restaurant, racking up a bill of hundreds of pounds, before legging it without paying a married couple Bernard and Ann McDonagh got away with doing this time and time again, dine-and-dashing to the value of more than £1,000 at five different had a brazen plan which they would act out each time, even involving their was until last year, when a CCTV image of the couple shared by one of the affected restaurants on Facebook went viral, and justice caught up with them. Speaking to the BBC's Strange But True Crime podcast, South Wales Police Inspector Andrew Hedley recalled how the CCTV social media post "exploded"."There was a huge outcry over what these people were doing," said Insp Hedley."There was a need to collectively bring this together under one umbrella and get a grip of it really quickly, before it escalated."It was a brazen disregard for the law." The first target Mr and Mrs McDonagh, from Sandfields in Port Talbot, first targeted a restaurant called The River House in Swansea in August ordered the most expensive items on the menu, running up a bill of £267, before running off without got away with it that time - or so they thought - and went on to target Golden Fortune in Port Talbot, La Casona in Skewen and Isabella's in in April 2024, the couple visited the newly-opened restaurant Bella Ciao in ordered T-bone steaks and double pudding portions, racking up a bill of £329, before - once again - leaving without restaurant's owners, who at the time described the situation as "destroying", reported what happened to the police and shared a CCTV image of the couple on post gained enormous attention and social media sleuths started their own investigations, putting pressure on police who confirmed they were investigating the couple over "a number of reports of making off without payment from several businesses". Within days, the couple were arrested and in May 2024 they pleaded guilty to failing to pay restaurant McDonagh was jailed for 12 months while her husband was jailed for eight how had they managed to get away with it for so long?The duo had a carefully practised plan which was boldly repeated at every McDonagh would leave the restaurant first with other family members, while one child would be left behind with Mrs McDonagh to pay the she would try to pay the card would be declined, and so she would offer to go to a cashpoint and leave the child at the restaurant as "proof" she would the children were trained to be part of the plan, and seconds later they would run off Swansea Crown Court, Mrs McDonagh also admitted to thefts from supermarkets and obstructing or resisting a police court heard she had even lied about being pregnant to get out of Paul Thomas KC described Mrs McDonagh as a "prolific liar". 'Pure and utter greed' The question asked by many was why the couple did what they court heard Mrs McDonagh may have been "trying to make herself feel better" following family McDonagh's defence barrister said the father-of-six was "deeply embarrassed and ashamed".But Judge Thomas said they were motivated by "pure and utter greed"."Over a period of around eight months, you two set out on a deliberate course of sustained dishonesty," he told the court."You would go into restaurants with your young family, you would have food and drink served to you, on the value of hundreds of pounds, then you would cynically leave without paying."The use of their children was "ruthlessly exploitative," the judge added, describing the incidents as "carefully pre-planned to a specific pattern" and "criminality for criminality's sake".
