Couple ‘caught in wild act’ at Italian restaurant

A couple have allegedly been busted planting something in their pasta dish in order to avoid a $140 bill at a UK restaurant.

A couple have allegedly been caught planting glass in their food before refusing to pay for the expensive Italian meal.

The pair were dining at San Marino restaurant in England’s North West last Saturday when the woman complained about a sharp object in her pasta.

After claiming it “almost broke” her costly veneers, the couple reportedly refused to pay their $139 bill, tried to get compensation and then left, The Sun reported.

However, staff were shocked when CCTV footage revealed what they claim is the male pulling the clump of glass out of his pocket and passing it to his partner to place on her napkin.

She can then be seen scooping food onto the napkin before calling a staff member over to show them the glass.

San Marino shared the video to Facebook with the caption “these kinds of scams are damaging to small, hardworking businesses like ours”.

A couple were allegedly caught putting glass in their meal on CCTV in the UK. Picture: Kennedy News

Managing director Miraz Yolcu says the incident has been reported to Cheshire Police who have confirmed they’re investigating it.

He hopes the clip, which has more than 115,000 views will warn businesses about “false claims”.

Mr Yolcu said: “It was shocking to see the CCTV footage. They were with their daughter but they’re not ashamed. They weren’t booked and they just came and said they needed something to eat so we happily showed them a table.”

The managing director said the table ordered food and everything was fine when they started eating.

“They had almost finished their food when the lady called one of the staff and said she found a piece of glass on her food that was in her mouth and almost broke her veneer teeth she has paid thousands of pounds for. They wanted to go to a GP,” Mr Yolcu said.

“Everybody was in shock. The staff were worried and they called the manager who came and asked what had happened. They said they won’t pay for this meal.

“The manager was saying ‘sorry it just doesn’t happen, it’s impossible to find glass in the food. This is not glass that we use in the kitchen’.

“They sent me a picture of it and I looked at it straight away and said it wasn't that type of glass. Before I said that they already didn’t pay.”

He said the staff looked at the CCTV and allegedly saw the man take the piece of lass from his pocket and hand it to the woman.

The bill. Picture: Kennedy News

“She just put it on the table on a piece of napkin and pretended it was in her mouth,” he claimed.

“It doesn’t happen so often but it causes a lot of stress to staff. It’s a serious accusation that could involve police, environmental health and cause all sorts of problems to the business. It could be damaging to the restaurant’s reputation.

“They are experienced. She was looking at the cameras around.

“They didn’t pay for the food but there was no compensation. We got that on the CCTV so we won’t be paying them a penny.”

The bill contained a Penne San Marino pasta, a chargrilled lamb shish kebab, garlic bread, caesar salad, still water, sparkling water and a Coca-Cola.

The director is keen to warn other businesses about “false claims” and encourages staff to ‘be calm’ before deciding what action to take.

Miraz said: “People need to be really aware of false claims.

“The first time we came across something like that we were shocked but after that I researched and started to get tips about what to do in these kinds of situations.

The alleged piece of glass. Picture: Kennedy News

“You really need to be calm.

“Before any further action you should say ‘I’ve got to have a look at the camera and call the police’.

“If they are serious they will check these things and if they’re not they will be shocked and if they made it up they would be really scared.”

A Cheshire Police spokesperson said: “At 1am on Sunday April 6 police received reports of a theft/deception at a restaurant in Widnes.

“The caller reported that three customers had left the premises without paying for a meal after claiming to find a piece of broken glass in their meal.

“After reviewing CCTV footage the caller believes that the glass was placed in the meal by the customers.

“Inquiries in relation to the matter are in the early stages.”

This story originally appeared on The Sun and reproduced with permission

Originally published as Couple ‘caught in wild act’ at Italian restaurant