Several Delaware restaurant owners worked together to track down a man who they say made a habit of dining and dashing at their businesses.
Gianmarco Martuscelli, the owner of Klondike Kate’s in Newark, Delaware, told NBC10 surveillance video at his business captured the culprit dining and dashing on several occasions over the past few months.
“Normal dressed guy just having a casual conversation with our bartender, talking about sports,” Martuscelli said. “Said he had to take a phone call, put his bar stool up and walked out.”
Reza Shiekh, a bartender, said the man did the same thing at Grotto’s Pizza where he works.
“This gentleman is something to behold,” Shiekh said. “He went basically everywhere. He would get his meal, his drinks and not pay for anything.”
Shiekh and a few others put the man’s photo on Facebook. Within a few hours of the post, employees from several Delaware bars, including Catherine Rooney’s and Stone Balloon came forward and said the man also dined and dashed at their businesses.
“We all started saying, ‘Hey, he did that to me! Hey he did it to me!’” Martuscelli said. “Before you know it, it’s been over ten to 15 locations in the past month.”
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
Facebook users quickly gave up the man’s name and described his alleged track record.
“1300 shares later, a lot of eyes,” Shiekh said. “The power of social media got this guy.”
The man made the rounds at several Delaware restaurants again Monday, according to the owners. This time they say, however, he was there to pay his tabs.
“I literally turned around and he was there with two of his friends,” Shiekh said. “He’s trembling and shaking and he said, ‘I think I have a tab to pay. And I said, ‘Yeah.’”
John Stave of Klondike Kate’s was unsure of the man’s sincerity.
“It looked like he was relatively apologetic,” Stave said. “But I think it was more because he got caught then because he was actually sorry.”
