If you walk out of a Ventura County, California restaurant or bar without paying your bill – “dine and dash” as it is often called – you are committing a crime and could land in jail.
California has a specific criminal statute that deals with “dine and dash” situations, though it does not refer to it as such and has a rather misleading name. Sometimes referred to as the “Defrauding an Innkeeper” law, California Penal Code Section 537 PC may sound like it only applies to hotels and motels, but is in fact much broader.
Under Section 537(a), it is a California criminal offense to:
“obtain any food, fuel, services, or accommodations at a hotel, inn, restaurant, boardinghouse, lodging house, apartment house, bungalow court, motel, marina, marine facility, auto camp, ski area, or public or private campground, without paying therefor, with intent to defraud the proprietor or manager thereof”
In order for leaving without paying to be a crime, it must have been done “with the intent to defraud.”
Evidence that you left the premises of the restaurant or other establishment set forth in the statute without paying or offering to pay for your food or beverages will be taken as prima facie evidence of your “intent to defraud.” Penal Code Section 537(c).
The penalties upon conviction for a violation of Section 537 depend on the size of the tab:
- If the value of the credit, food and beverages is $950 or less, you could be fined up to $1,000) and/or sentenced to up to six months in Ventura County Jail.
- If the value of the credit, food and beverages is greater than $950, you could be sentenced to one year in either Ventura County Jail or California State Prison.
If you have been charged with dining and dashing or skipping out on a bar tab in Ventura County, please give one of our skilled Ventura County criminal defense attorneys a call.