A 50-year-old man who scammed restaurants after faking heart attacks to avoid footing his bill has finally been charged and jailed.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Lithuanian man, identified only as Aidas J., has attempted to scam eateries at least 20 times in the last year in Alicante, Spain, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais and EFE.
Aidas would pose as a Russian tourist while ordering multiple items on the menu.
Dressed in designer clothes, the scammer would begin his meals with a Russian salad, numerous glasses of whiskey and a large main entree of entrecote or seafood.
In his latest performance, he ordered a seafood paella and two whiskeys at a local restaurant in September, tallying a bill of 34.85 euros ($50.51 CAD.)
He tried to leave without paying, however, the restaurant’s staff stopped him and requested he pay the bill, according to EFE, citing El Buen Comer manager Moisés Doménech.
After pretending to get upset, Aidas claimed that he was going to grab money from his hotel room nearby, but when the staff refused to let him leave without paying the bill, he dramatically clutched his chest and fell to the floor as if he was having a heart attack, the news outlet reported.
Instead of calling an ambulance, the staff recognized his antics and called local authorities who quickly identified the scammer.
“It was very theatrical, he pretended to faint and slumped himself down on the floor,” the manager of El Buen Comer, one of the eateries the conman scammed, told the U.S. Sun.
Authorities circulated photos of Aidas prior to the last incident to warn other restaurant staff of his performances.
“We’ve all received a warning with his photo telling us to be careful and to not serve him anything,” another restaurant worker said.
Despite committing minor crimes as each bill was between 13 and 60 euros, the conman has been jailed for 42 days following his latest arrest after a two month scam spree.
