Paul Guadalupe Gonzales, who allegedly left dates with large tabs in a two-year spree, now faces extortion among other charges

They called him the dine-and-dash dater, a charming, smooth-talking, handsome 45-year-old man who would allegedly chat women online, offer to treat them at upscale Los Angeles restaurants and then vanish without a word after shoveling down one, sometimes two, expensive entrees.

As he failed to return from the toilet, or from a phone call he said he needed to take from one of his children, the women would quickly realise that he wasn’t interested in dating.

He was in it for the free food.

And maybe the thrill of it. And maybe also the flirtation with danger.

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According to police, Paul Guadalupe Gonzales did almost nothing to cover his tracks – he used his own name on online dating sites such as Bumble and Plenty of Fish and did nothing to disguise his appearance or conceal himself from video surveillance cameras that would occasionally capture him as he made his rapid getaways.

This week, Gonzales met his alleged dinner dates for a second time, only now he was in the dock in a Los Angeles-area criminal court and the women were star witnesses for the prosecution.

Gonzales faces 10 counts of extortion, grand theft and other charges for a freeloading spree that prosecutors say lasted two years. If convicted on all charges, he could face up to 13 years behind bars – a punishment prosecutor say is warranted because instead of simply defrauding the restaurant he “set up a third party to take the fall”.

Sometimes, restaurants would take pity on woman who’d been stiffed and pick up the tab for her. More often, prosecutors said in a pre-trial filing, “she would … pay it out of fear of embarrassment or shame”.

Gonzales’ background is unclear, but prosecutors said he had two outstanding bench warrants, including one for petty theft. He was accused last year of running out on a hair salon – no dinner dates involved – and was captured on video still wearing the smock in which he’d received his trim.