A Lithuanian conman who faked having a heart attack to avoid paying the bill has been jailed in Spain.
Aidas J., who lives in Spain, scammed 20 restaurants in the city of Alicante before he was jailed.
During his performances, he would fall to the floor and clutch his chest in faked agony.
‘It was very theatrical, he pretended to faint and slumped himself down on the floor,’ the manager of El Buen Comer, one of the eateries the conman scammed, told the US Sun.
Aidas even requested medical attention for his fake heart problems and was only found out when he tried his skit twice at El Buen Comer.
Another restaurant worker told Spanish newspaper El Pais: ‘He lay down on the floor, acted as if his chest hurt and began to shake.’
As part of his act, Aidas dresses in ‘designer clothes’, according to local police, and pretends to be a Russian tourist who doesn’t speak Spanish.
The manager of El Buen Comer sent Aidas’ picture to other restaurants in the area to warn them and stop the conman from ‘striking again’.
Another restaurant owner targeted by Aidas said he had ordered several glasses of expensive whiskey, a Russian salad, and a main dish like entrecote or lobster before he faked the heart attack.
The scammer has now been jailed for 42 days after he refused two fines he received for his theatrics.
As each bill he skipped was considered a small amount – ranging from €15 to €70 (£13-£60), Aidas only committed ‘minor crimes’.
His crime spree went on for two months, during which he was arrested several times but let go because he only owed a small amount to each restaurant.
But the owners of the scammed restaurants want to file a joint complaint to get the conman locked away for longer.
The dine-and-dash incidents amount to €766 (£666) in combined bills.
