A 50-year-old Lithuanian national was arrested on suspicion of faking heart attacks at 20 different restaurants within a year in order to avoid paying his bills.
According to the Spanish newspaper ‘El Pais,’ the man, only identified as Aidas J, targeted restaurants in the city of Alicante in particular.
Aidas’ most recent con involved him ordering seafood paella and two whiskies worth 34.85 euros (approx. Ksh.5,5240) at Alicante’s El Buen Comer restaurant.
After finishing his meal, the man allegedly attempted to leave without paying. When confronted by the restaurant’s staff, he claimed that he was going to collect money from his hotel room in order to pay his bill, but the hotel’s operators refused.
Irked by the fact he couldn’t leave, the man in a rather dramatic fashion feigned a heart attack, falling to the ground and clinching to his chest.
”It was very theatrical, he pretended to faint and slumped himself down on the floor,” the restaurant’s manager told the U.S. Sun.
Instead of calling an ambulance, the restaurant’s manager phoned local police who were able to easily identify the man owing to his previous heart attack scams.
“The man’s image had reportedly been shared among many area restaurants to try and stop him from striking again,” a spokesperson from the Alicante National Police is quoted as saying by Insider.
“He was arrested multiple times in the city of Alicante. The modus operandi was the same.”
The scammer has since been jailed for 42 days after refusing to pay two fines imposed on him for his deceptive actions but the owners of the hotels he scammed want him to be handed a lengthier sentence.
