Serial Dine-and-Dasher Raises the Bar on Terrible Dates

As if the fresh hellscape that is modern day dating isn’t exhausting enough, here’s a fun treat to destroy any last shred of hope you might have for single men: a man in Los Angeles dubbed the “Dine and Dash Dater” is accused of ditching a string of women he met online during their dates, forcing them to foot more than $900 in restaurant bills.

A release from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office explains that 45-year-old Paul Guadalupe Gonzales invited a string of women he met on dating apps to meet him for dinner between May 2016 and April of this year. He ordered pricy food and drinks totaling close to $950, but dashed before the bill came on each occasion.

Eight of Gonzales’s dates told law enforcement that they covered the cost of the check out of pocket upon realizing Gonzales wouldn’t be returning to the table (awk), and at least two of the restaurants involved covered the cost of their own checks. But justice, like Gonzales’s meals, has been served—the Dine and Dash Dater was arrested on July 3 and faces felony charges for one count of extortion, two counts of attempted extortion, and one count of grand theft, as well as two misdemeanor charges for defrauding an innkeeper and petty theft.