A spate of “dine-and-dash” incidents at Koreatown restaurants has prompted business owners to be vigilant.
According to Byul Gobchang, a Korean restaurant in Los Angeles Koreatown, a Korean-American man fled without paying for his meal at around 2 p.m. last week—his meal cost about $60, including meat orders and alcohol.
“A Korean-American man in his 30s suddenly walked out after eating alone,” said Won Kyu Choi, CEO of Byul Gobchang. “The staff chased after him later, but he left without looking back, and he didn’t even seem to be drunk,” he said.
It wasn’t the first time, he said. Two months earlier, police were called after a customer believed to be a Hispanic man refused to pay for $150 worth of food.
“At the time, the man claimed he didn’t have his wallet and said he would get it from his car, but when our staff asked him to leave his cell phone, he claimed he didn’t have a phone. It resulted in an argument that led to the police. He gave them his personal information and said he would pay the money back by the next day, but he never showed up.”
“There are several other restaurants in Koreatown that have been victimized recently,” he said, adding that he is concerned about the increasing number of dine-and-dash incidents in the Koreatown area, especially after the pandemic.
Korean American Food Industry Association (KAFIA) President Yong Ho Kim, who is also the owner of the Japanese restaurant Arado, said that sometimes homeless people come into the restaurant to eat and then turn to say they have no money.
“It’s a difficult scenario for restaurants. Fighting won’t solve it, and we can’t distinguish customers based on how they look,” Kim said. “Restaurants that sell alcohol or have a large space without an owner present are more vulnerable,” he said, adding, “Some restaurants say the dine-and-dashers ran away after eating $200 to $400 worth of food.”
“We’re training our staff to just quietly send them away if we see them,” Kim said. ”It’s rare for them to come back to a restaurant where they’ve eaten and ran without paying. It’s best not to confront them because you could end up hurting yourself, or they could retaliate with malicious intent and smash windows.”
In August, a Korean-American business owner was assaulted at his sushi restaurant in Phelan by a man who tried to leave without paying. The suspect ordered more than $100 worth of food, claimed to be from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and attempted to flee. When the owner intervened, the suspect yelled profanities and punched the owner in the face before being arrested by police who responded to the scene.
According to California Penal Code Section 537, the dine-and-dash is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or six months in jail if the bill is $950 or less, and by one to three years in jail if the bill is more than $950.
BY SUAH JANG, HOONSIK WOO [jang.suah@koreadaily.com]
