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London restaurants seemingly hit by the same dine-and-dash culprits are warning other local eateries, as city police urge businesses to report thefts busy restaurateurs often write off.
Spageddy Eddy’s took to social media this week after a party of three racked up a $150 bill at the Richmond Street restaurant on Sunday evening, then left without paying.
“They just walked right out when nobody was looking. It really sucks,” Thomas Bikos said. “There’s lots of places to run to downtown. They were just gone.”
The Spageddy Eddy’s social media post, which included still images of the culprits captured on surveillance footage, sparked reaction from other restaurants reporting similar incidents.
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Rob Annable, of the Village Pantry Restaurant in Lambeth, alleges the same people who hit Spageddy Eddy’s also robbed his business.
“They’re often very friendly, the most successful ones, at least. They put you at ease by talking to you,” he said, adding the thieves he’s encountered typically do not act shifty or suspicious.
They’ll order, eat and then use an excuse like they’ve forgotten their wallet in the car, need to go out for a smoke or use the washroom, then take the opportunity to leave without paying, he said.
“Before we knew what was happening, they were driving off,” he said about the incident.
In a social media post, Roxbury Pub and Grill, near Highbury Avenue and Oxford Street, published still images captured on its surveillance cameras after two “aggravating” dine-and-dash incidents, including one allegedly involving the same three culprits that appear in the Spageddy Eddy’s surveillance pictures.
“If you can’t pay your bill, don’t make us pay for it,” the restaurant said in a September post on Facebook. “We are a small family-run business who love our community, but this is unsettling.”
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Dine-and-dash incidents aren’t always reported to police by restaurateurs unless there is evidence or information they can hand over to investigators, Annable said.
“It’s part of doing business. It’s just going to happen,” he said, adding he didn’t report the trio to London police.
London police accept reports of thefts online and continue to encourage businesses to report dine-and-dash incidents, the department said in an email Wednesday.
“However, many retailers only report incidents to police when they want charges laid,” London police said. “We encourage all victims of crime to report to the LPS, whether over the phone, in person, or through the online reporting system.”
Dining in a restaurant and taking off without paying is theft under Canada’s Criminal Code.
Restaurants Canada, a national food-service industry organization, does not track statistics on dine-and-dash incidents, a spokesperson said Wednesday.
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