A California man is being accused by law enforcement for meeting women online at restaurants, only to leave without paying, KCBS-TV reports.
The Los Angeles Attorney's Office is looking for 44-year-old Paul Gonzales after several women came forward saying that they had been taken by the man. His recent dine and dashes were not the first time he had left unsuspecting women behind with the check.
Gonzales was reportedly charged in 2016 for two counts of petty theft. In one of those cases, a woman told KCBS that Gonzales had ordered two entrees worth more than $200, and then said he was going to the restroom. Gonzales never returned.
More recently, KCBS reported that the man met a woman at a Los Angeles area restaurant using the Bumble application. The woman said he scarfed down his meal that included steak, salad, shrimp and wine.
"He left maybe half a baked potato and then received a phone call and said ‘I need to take this call,’” the woman said.
Bumble posted on its Instagram that any women who were scammed by Gonzales would have their meal paid for by the company.
"Our goal is to protect wonderful people from the ridiculous behavior permissible in the dating world," Bumble said. "If you (expletive) with our incredible users, we will take you down and keep you off of Bumble. Be nice or leave or we will force you to leave. You don't get to use our platform to be creepy. That's not how this thing works. Our users' time and energy is valuable and we won't stand for anyone wasting it. We love each and every one of our users so don't mess with them."
