Yahoo News CCTV catches 'dine and dash' family walking out of restaurant without paying
Vito’s restaurant in Sheffield want the family-of-four to return to settle their £60 bill.
Watch: Family of four caught walking out of restaurant without paying
This is the moment a family-of-four were caught walking out of an Italian restaurant without paying – as unsuspecting staff prepared their desserts.
The group can be seen on CCTV footage apparently leaving Vito’s in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, on Sunday night before they paid their £60 bill.
Chef Vito Ciaraolo, 59, who has owned the restaurant for 32 years, claims the man and woman in the footage – who were joined by two children – had checked for cameras as they sat down for their meal.
The family arrived at the restaurant at 6pm on 23 April and ordered olives, three pizzas and an aubergine dish as main courses, a fruit juice and three soft drinks, racking up a bill of £60.95.
But when they finished their mains, CCTV footage shows the woman – dressed in black – standing up from her seat and leading the children from the table.
The man, in a blue t shirt, then orders desserts before walking out while the waitress is distracted.
Ciaraolo said the staff did not know the family, who had chosen to sit at a table close to the door before they began to make their orders.
He described their actions as “frustrating” and that the couple had set a bad example to the children.
Ciaraolo said: “It’s very frustrating. You can imagine what I would do if I would have caught them. But there was nothing I could do.
“The waitress made an order in the kitchen. She said they'd ordered three desserts but the kids and the woman had left, and it was just the man in the restaurant.
“I said to the waitress 'Go upstairs. I think they are going to do a runner.'
"I realised they were up to something. But by the time she went upstairs, one minute later, they had left.”
Ciaraolo is now hoping the footage will help find the family and that if they do end up paying for the meal, the money will be donated to charity.
He added: “I have been here for 32 years and this is only the second time it’s happened. But If that guy gives it back, I will give that money to charity.”
Ciaraolo has not yet reported the incident to the police.
