Watch this Apparent Dine-and-Dash on Knutsford Terrace
CCTV footage of a group of diners appearing to do a runner on Knutsford Terrace has been making the rounds.
CCTV footage of a group of diners appearing to run out on their bill last month at Turkish restaurant Merhaba on Knutsford Terrace has been making the rounds on Facebook. In the video, a group of six diners are handed the bill, which they appear to throw onto the floor behind them before running out of the restaurant.
Merhaba’s parent company King Parrot Group confirmed that an incident had taken place, but says it has filed a police report over the incident and does not wish to disclose further details.
Is this the first in a growing trend of dining-and-dashing in the city? Gary Orr, senior operations manager at Cafe Deco Group, has faith in the people of Hong Kong. “Sometimes people get too drunk to pay at our bars, but when they sober up, they always come back to foot their bills.” He added that given the efficiency of social media, he sees no reason to worry about the incident becoming an everyday phenomenon.
Last September, a surveillance camera caught three men waving goodbye to a cashier before leaving a seafood restaurant in Ngau Tau Kok—without paying their bill. Shortly after the incident made the news, a man called the restaurant owner to apologize, and later returned to the restaurant to foot the $1,500 bill.
Under the Theft Ordinance, persons found guilty of “making off without payment” can be imprisoned for up to three years.
Watch the footage here, which was originally posted by an employee of the restaurant and then reposted by writer Nury Vittachi.
