Serial Dine-and-Dasher Sentenced to Five Years in Prison

Notorious Baltimore dine-and-dasher Andrew Palmer has been sentenced to five years in prison after he ordered a meal at a restaurant in October 2013 and faked a medical emergency to avoid payment (Palmer pretended to have a seizure at Baltimore barbecue joint Oliver Speck's to avoid his $90 bill). According to Fox Baltimore, paramedics who arrived on the scene after the restaurant called 911 "instantly recognized" Palmer because they each had personally treated him at least "five times prior" for the same fake emergency call. On the way to the hospital, Palmer apparently woke up and admitted, "I have no money to pay for my food and beers so I was faking."

Palmer pled guilty to "theft of less than $1,000 and falsely causing an ambulance to be called," and the judge actually sentenced the 47-year-old to 10 years behind bars, but five years of the sentence were suspended. When he is released from prison, Palmer will be put on supervised probation, which means that if he were to dine-and-dash again during that time period, he could face another five years or more behind bars.

Even with the threat of seriously jail time looming over him, avoiding dining-and-dashing maybe prove difficult for Palmer: He has an arrest rap sheet more than 90 incidents long. The night after the incident at Oliver Speck's, Palmer was arrested for refusing to pay a tab at a sports bar. This time, instead of faking a seizure, he told employees that he had been robbed on the way to the restaurant and therefore had no money. Palmer has previously spent over a year in jail for a series of dine-and-dash incidents. At least in prison he won't be required to pay for his meals.

· Dine and Dasher Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison [FOX Baltimore]
· Seizure-Faking Restaurant Scammer Arrested Again [-E-]
· All Andrew Palmer Coverage on Eater [-E-]
· All Crime Coverage on Eater [-E-]