A Lithuanian man living in Spain found the perfect dine-and-dash strategy — or so he thought. Aidas J., 50, spent two months hitting restaurants across Alicante, ordering seafood paella, lobster, entrecote, and multiple glasses of expensive whiskey, then faking a heart attack when the bill arrived. He would clutch his chest, collapse dramatically to the floor, and shake — putting on what one restaurant manager called “a very theatrical” performance. Ambulances would rush in, and Aidas would vanish without paying a single euro.
He pulled it off at least 20 times.
His trick was a disguise too. Dressed in designer clothes, he posed as a Russian tourist who couldn’t speak Spanish — until the moment he needed to escape, at which point he suddenly lost the ability to communicate entirely and dropped to the floor.
The problem was the bills were small — €15 to €70 each — so Spanish law treated every incident as a minor crime. Police would arrest him, he’d spend a night in jail, flash a smile at the officers, and be back at another restaurant the next day. One cop told a local newspaper he had personally arrested Aidas four times.
What finally ended his run was a restaurant manager who photographed him and circulated the picture to every eatery in the area. The next time Aidas tried it, staff called the police instead of an ambulance. He had racked up €766 in unpaid bills across 20 restaurants. When he refused to pay two court-ordered fines, he was sentenced to 42 days behind bars.
Restaurants across Alicante had nicknamed him “Gastrojeta.” He reportedly didn’t mind the jail time at all.