Police say a Georgia man called 911 at Red Lobster to dodge a $63 bill. Officers found him fine and booked him instead

A $63 Red Lobster dinner allegedly became much more costly when a Georgia man tried to get out of paying the bill. Police say he faked a medical emergency and called 911, but the plan backfired and ended with his arrest.

Abdul Hakeem Rasheed, 26, was dining at a Red Lobster in Douglasville, Georgia, when the bill arrived. According to Yahoo News, police said Rasheed then called 911 from the restaurant and claimed he was having a medical emergency.

However, responding officers reportedly determined that Rasheed was fine. They allege the emergency call was actually a ruse made to avoid paying his $63 restaurant bill.

The 911 call allegedly backfired

What Rasheed ordered hasn’t been revealed, but the alleged attempt to escape the check created a much bigger problem than the bill itself. He was booked into the Douglas County Jail on charges of theft of services and unlawful conduct during a 911 call.

Restaurant bills have inspired some more unusual exit strategies. In one case, a server said a group ordered a Philly cheesesteak, a fried chicken sandwich, and beignets. The group left only $30 toward their meal before walking out, leaving her worried she would be stuck covering the rest. Another alleged dine-and-dash required a little more button-pushing. In this instance, a Texas server claimed three customers used a payment terminal to dine and dash by selecting the cash option and leaving without actually putting any money down.

Rasheed’s alleged strategy was quite different from the typical dine-and-dash method. Rather than quietly leaving the restaurant, he apparently called emergency services to the scene himself.

The $63 meal led to criminal charges

The restaurant bill was reportedly $63, although separate local reporting citing arrest warrants placed the total more specifically at $63.77. Either way, the amount Rasheed allegedly tried to avoid paying was substantially smaller than the financial consequences that followed.

Patch, citing the Douglas County Sentinel’s review of arrest warrants, put the bill more precisely at $63.77. That report described the call a little differently, saying Rasheed dialed 911 after realizing he couldn’t pay, and that officers believed the call was made to get out of the bill.

Douglas County Jail records reviewed by Patch show Rasheed was granted a combined $4,500 bond on both charges. He has not been convicted, and his side of the story does not appear in available reports.

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