Middletown police seek information from restaurants hit by alleged dining and dasher
UPDATE: A Florida man has been arrested and charged in at least two Aquidneck Island communities with consuming food and drinks at restaurants and leaving without paying.
---
An unidentified person has been dining and dashing at local restaurants, and police are looking to make a list of the affected establishments.
Middletown police on Thursday put out a call for any restaurants that have been the victim of a person eating and then leaving without paying their check. Police said they are investigating the incidents following "multiple reports" of an individual failing to pay the bill after eating.
Special delivery: How Middletown, RI, and other police departments are 'helping all the folks' in Ukraine
They said a person of interest who also has reportedly been staying in local hotels without paying has been identified.
Police are asking any local restaurant that has experienced an individual failing to pay their bill over the past week to contact Det. Adam Tobias at 401-846-1144, Ext. 7009 as part of an ongoing investigation.
While it's not immediately known if it's the same person, Fieldstones Grille in Portsmouth issued a notice in a social media post asking for assistance in identifying a man who left without paying a bill on Sept. 15.
Restaurant, retail and more: Here are the plans for the former Benny's in Middletown
According to the post, the unknown man said his name was Antonio and ordered a couple of vodka drinks and a burger while chatting with the woman next to him.
"He ordered a dessert, and while Ashley was in the kitchen using her artistic skills decorating it, he slipped out and left her with a $70 check," the post says. "We’ve exhausted all of our investigative abilities and can’t seem to get him to come in to pay his tab. So we figured we’d reach out and see if this is his MO around town."
This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Middletown police call out to restaurants about person not paying bill
