Man Arrested at 20 Restaurants for Pretending to Have a Heart Attack in Order to Avoid Paying the Bill

The 50-year-old Lithuanian guy, who is popularly known as the "gastrojeta" among the locals, was recently taken into Spanish detention for an unusual eating experience in an unusual case of culinary ingenuity. His trick was to pretend to have a heart attack in order to avoid paying his restaurant bills. He allegedly pulled this off about 20 times in the previous year.

The most recent event occurred at the location of a restaurant called "El Buen Comer," where the man ate a sumptuous dinner of seafood paella and drank two glasses of whiskey, totaling about $36.80. He was trying to sneak out without paying his tab when the watchful employees of the restaurant snooped on his escape route.

Making up a last-minute justification, he claimed he had to get money out of his hotel room. But things took a surprising turn when the restaurant staff refused his desire to leave without paying the bill. The cunning man instantly pretended to be having a serious heart attack.

Instead of frantically calling for an ambulance, the wise restaurant employees decided to call the neighborhood police. The individual was quickly taken into jail by the authorities because of his reputation for pulling off such acts.

His actions had become so popular that other eateries in the area have shared his picture as a deterrent to scams in the future. As such, the "gastrojeta" ended up behind bars once more, though it's still not entirely clear how he was imprisoned or released. This culinary con man's story never ceases to amaze and confound.