No felony charges for dastardly ‘dine-and-dasher’
A California judge has scrapped all felony charges against the “dine-and-dash dater” accused of inviting women to restaurants, ordering lavish meals and vanishing.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Darrell Mavis upheld two misdemeanor charges against Paul Guadalupe Gonzales — defrauding an innkeeper and petty theft.
The dismissed 10 counts of felony extortion or attempted extortion involved women he lured to restaurants and abandoned with the bill.
Deputy District Attorney Michael Fern quickly vowed an appeal, a spokesman told the Daily News.
Gonzales’ bail was reduced to $100,000 from $315,000. He remained in custody as of Thursday morning.
On the first day of his two-part preliminary hearing, multiple women testified about how Gonzales took them to restaurants, ordered expensive eats like steaks, lobster tails and chocolate souffle, along with pricy wine, then stiffed them on the bill.