Additional charges were filed on Friday against a man who has become known as the “Dine-and-Dash Dater,” the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.
Paul Guadalupe Gonzales was charged with four new felony counts of extortion, while one felony count of grand theft and one misdemeanor count of petty theft were dismissed. He pleaded not guilty to the new charges at a hearing Sept. 7.
The defendant now faces a total of 11 felony counts of extortion, two felony counts of attempted extortion, two misdemeanor counts of defrauding an innkeeper by non-payment and one misdemeanor count of petty theft, according to the amended criminal complaint in case GA103750.
A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Sept. 11 at 11 a.m. in Department C of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Pasadena Branch. Bail remained at $315,000.
From May 2016 through April 2018, Gonzales is accused of dining with women he met through dating apps and then leaving without paying any of the bill, according to Deputy District Attorney Michael Fern of the Cyber Crime Division. The defendant allegedly had meals with the victims at restaurants in several areas of Los Angeles County, including Pasadena, Long Beach, Burbank and Los Angeles, the prosecutor said.
In two instances, the restaurants allegedly picked up the check after Gonzales had left his dates alone, the prosecutor said. Those businesses are among the victims named in the criminal complaint.
In an unrelated incident, the defendant also allegedly received services from a hair salon and left without paying.
Gonzales faces a possible maximum penalty of 16 years and 10 months in county jail if convicted as charged. The case remains under investigation by the Pasadena Police Department.
