Some of you may have heard of people going on dates with people they meet online just to have a nice meal paid for by the other person and never call them back. At least they don’t run out of them and actually pretend to be interested until the date is over. That can’t be said for 45-year-old Paul Gonzales who over the past couple of years has developed a bit of a reputation as a dine-and-dasher, in that he scammed free meals out of women he met online.
LA County prosecutors said that Gonzales pleaded not guilty to 10 felony charges related to accusations that he took “financial advantage of women he met mostly through dating apps and websites.”
News of his exploits has been covered as far back as 2016 by local outlets in California. He ended up being called a dine-and-dash dater because he allegedly only went on internet dates to run out before the bill came.
On one such date he ordered more than $100 in food. The woman said that he ordered two entrees and excused it by saying that he was a bodybuilder. He later said that he was going to the bathroom and never came back, leaving her with quite a hefty bill.
In the ten cases that he has been charged in, the women had to pay the bill in eight cases, the restaurants picked up the tab in the remaining two. The total amount he is accused of defrauding dates out of is $950.
He has been charged with seven counts of extortion, two counts of attempted extortion, and one count of grand theft. He’s looking at a maximum sentence of 13 years if convicted.
Filed in .. Source: gizmodo