Not so fast! When a trio of dine-and-dashers thought they’d simply pull a fast one on this Chicago soul food restaurant, they were met with the slick and savvy owner who tracked down the three suspects in true detective fashion. What was first a birthday celebration turned into an alleged heist, and now police are involved.
According to Fox 32 News, the three women, who are believed to be from Rochester, N.Y., allegedly ran up more than $260— before tip— at Soul Vibez, a Black-owned soul food restaurant located in Chicago. They reportedly chowed down on Alfredo pasta, fried chicken wings, lemon drop martinis and more before their server brought them the bill.
After their feast was over, the women reportedly asked their server to print another copy of the receipt. When the unnamed employee returned, however, the three women were gone. Dining and dashing happens all the time, but it was two careless mistakes that ultimately led to the women being identified by the restaurant owner herself.
In fact, the owner of Soul Vibez took to Instagram to expose the scheme. “Chile yall ain’t gone learn by now that im gone POST YALL!!!” @mzfabricia wrote. She continued defending the server who she says “literally bust her a** for customers and to do this to not just me but my team that bussed they butt to serve yall! If you don’t have it just stayyy at home.”
The post was coupled with surveillance footage showing the moment the trio allegedly skipped out on the bill. She even added a close up of each woman’s face. In the video, the women can be seen leaving the restaurant one at a time within 30 seconds of the server walking away from their table.
But that’s not all... When they first arrived at the restaurant, the women inadvertently gave their names and phone numbers to join the restaurant’s waitlist, which was key to identifying them. The owner continued on instagram saying, “I have they name and phone numbers that used for the waiting list and reported them, they names and they pictures.” She continued saying, “As a FYI cameras inside and OUTSIDE are def in 4k!” Now that’s how you crack a case!
After the suspected heist, one of the women allegedly took to social media bragging about the “free food” they enjoyed at Soul Vibez, according to Dailymail.com. So now, with their names and numbers on the record as well as a damning post from one of the suspects, police are investigating the matter, according to Fox 32.
They haven’t been charged with any crimes yet, but according to Illinois law, theft of services under $500 is a Class A misdemeanor. If convicted, each suspect could spend up to a year behind bars and pay a $2,500 fine.