Dine-and-Dash Dater

It has happened again...Another woman from California fell victim to the serial Dine-and-Dash dater...

Paul Gonzales wanted to have dinner after meeting this lady on a dating app, so they headed to Smitty’s Bar and Grill in Pasadena. He ordered a salad with shrimp, a filet mignon and washed it all down with a couple cups of coffee.

The woman said Gonzales told her he was worried because his aunt is very sick.

“All of a sudden he’s all, ‘Oh, my phone’s dying and I’m waiting on the call from my mom about my aunt. I’m going to go to the car to get my charger.’ And then my first comment to him when he got up was, ‘Oh what, you’re not coming back,” she explained.

After 10 minutes, she realized he wasn’t. She was stuck with the $130 bill and paid it.

“I didn’t mention it to the restaurant, nothing. I think I was more embarrassed, my pride was just like, you know, I felt dumb,”

At the time, she had no idea Gonzales has been accused of the same routine, rather routinely — for years now. He did the same at Mercardo Restaurant last week, another woman at BJ’s last March, and at least two other women who’ve all come forward.

“In California, it’s a crime to dine-and-dash,” said attorney Kelly Chang Rickert.

She says if you become a victim of dining and dashing, make a police report because it is a crime against the restaurant.

“You can be jailed for up to six months or fined up to $1,000 if your dine-and-dash bill was under $950,” Rickert said.