Man fakes heart attacks to avoid paying the bill at 20 restaurants

Multiple restaurants located in a Spanish city reportedly had encounters with a man allegedly trying to get away without paying by using a tricky tactic.

Spanish media outlets reported the ploy that the middle-aged man from Lithuanian had purportedly been using was pretending to suffer a heart attack, Business Insider reported Thursday. He allegedly subjected many restaurants in Alicante to it. 

The city can be found on the coast of Spain, south of Valencia and southwest of Ibiza. It is home to the Castle of Santa Barbara.

In total, the meals he purportedly used the tactic in an attempt to avoid paying cost over $800, per the Daily Mail. 

An Alicante National Police spokesperson told Business Insider he was accused of deploying the fake heart attack ruse in at least 20 instances in a one-year period. The latest of those happened in September, the authorities reportedly said. 

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He allegedly tried to exit the El Buen Corner restaurant, telling workers he had money he could retrieve to cover what he owed from his hotel room, Business Insider reported using local outlets. When that didn’t work, he purportedly staged a heart-related medical emergency.

That incident, which involved a nearly $37 check for whiskey and paella, resulted in police putting him under arrest, according to local outlets. The local court reportedly got the case.

Reports suggested he had allegedly previously eaten meals with lobster and entrecote before trying to make restaurants foot the bill. 

The Daily Mail reported not paying a couple fines has led to him having spent roughly six weeks in jail.