Serial 'dine-and-dash' dater who left women he met online to pay bill, faces 10 felony counts
A man in California lambasted as the 鈥渄ine-and-dash dater鈥� after being accused of meeting women at restaurants across the Los Angeles area only to leave them with the bill, pleaded not guilty to charges of theft and extortion on Monday, prosecutors said.
Paul Guadalupe Gonzales, 45, allegedly connected with a string of women through dating apps and websites and invited them out to dinner between May 2016 and this April with the intent of using them as a meal ticket, the Los Angeles County District Attorney鈥檚 Office said in a news release.
He arranged dates at restaurants in Pasadena, Long Beach, Burbank and Los Angeles, where he ordered and consumed food and drinks, then disappeared before the bill had been paid, the DA鈥檚 office said.
Eight women told prosecutors they鈥檇 footed the bill 鈥� one of them under the belief that Gonzales would pay her back. And at least twice, the restaurant paid its own check 鈥� making those businesses victims in the criminal complaint, officials said.
In total, Gonzales is accused of defrauding the women of more than $950.
He鈥檚 also charged with receiving hair salon services, then leaving before paying.
Investigators obtained an arrest warrant for Gonzales on July 3. Inmate records show he was taken into custody Aug. 25 in Pasadena.
He was subsequently charged with seven counts of extortion, two counts of attempted extortion and one count of grand theft 鈥� all felonies. He also faces two misdemeanor counts each of defrauding an innkeeper and petty theft.
If convicted Gonzales could spend up to 13 years in state prison, prosecutors said.
Gonzales is scheduled to return to court in Pasadena for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 7.