A restaurant in northwest Calgary turned to social media on Saturday night for tips to identify and locate a group of six men, whom they say ran out on a bill for over $200.
Khushboo Ghosh, co-owner of JP’s Indian Bistro, was working on Saturday evening with one of her servers when the six men walked in and sat down at one of the tables at about 7:00 p.m.
Ghosh, who has managed different businesses over the past eight years and has been part owner of JP’s for the past three, noticed something odd about the group right away.
“We never judge somebody just by looking at them but I had a sense that this is not going to go right, plus my server as well.”
Despite the reservations about the customers, Ghosh served them.
“We served them, we were nice to them, they enjoyed the food. But, when they were done with all the food, I realized that it didn’t look like they were going to pay. Something is going on, something is fishy.”
Ghosh told her server to hand the group their bill and tell them the restaurant was closed for the day, but she says they became evasive and said they weren’t done eating.
“We said, ‘Just pay the server and we’ll create a new tab’ but that was when they said, ‘We are going out for a smoke break.’ Six of them, together. I said, ‘No, sorry, I need you guys to pay first.’”
All of a sudden, one of the men ran out of the restaurant and Ghosh went after him.
“I ran after him and chased him. I got a hold on one of the guys, but he was probably bigger than me so he pushed me and I lost track.”
Returning to the restaurant, Ghosh found the rest of the men had disappeared. She immediately contacted the police.
“I called 911 and told them this is what happened. The cops were here and I explained to them what happened.”
Ghosh has since posted on the restaurant’s Facebook page about the incident and has gotten some tips about the identities of the men involved.
However, she says she is still very shocked by the situation.
“I was in shock more than surprised. I was very shocked that somebody can do that because it has been over three years that we had this business and not even for a dollar somebody did that.”
Typically, businesses who are victimized in dine-and-dashes pass on those losses to the server, but Ghosh says she won’t do that to her employee.
“As a small business owner, I am not going to do that to my server, I am going to take responsibility of that because I am going to make sure this person pays.”
She hopes that other business owners in the community will be wise to the activities of the group and eventually police will arrest the men.
“I am in contact with CPS and I will be forwarding them all the details I have. I don’t want to personally get involved because I don’t want to hurt them. They are normal people. It’s just not a good idea to come to a business and run out on a bill.”
The Calgary Police Service tells CTV News it is are aware of the incident and is conducting an investigation.
