A man has been arrested for allegedly carrying out a series of dine-and-dash incidents at Sports Grill, a South Florida restaurant chain. Juan Carlos Rivera, 40, is now facing charges after being accused of leaving multiple locations of the sports bar without settling tabs that totaled up to hundreds of dollars. According to CBS Miami, Rivera was captured on surveillance video committing the acts across various branches from Doral to Kendall.
Police have stated that Rivera's strategy involved spending considerable time at the venues, oftentimes sitting at the bar for hours, before deceitfully claiming to step outside to deliver orders to his wife and subsequently leaving the premises. "In Doral, he was at the bar for almost four hours. Just sitting. Chilling, having a great time. Drinking very expensive liquor," Christine Marques, Sports Grill's COO, recounted in a report obtained by WSVN. The arrest report for Rivera mentions an incident last Saturday at the Doral location where he racked up a tab of $260 before walking out.
Staff at the affected restaurants expressed their dismay over the situation, noting the impact of such deceptive acts on their operations. Ellen Fitzgerald, Sports Grill's general manager, detailed to CBS Miami how Rivera's repeated dine-and-dashes prompted the chain to change its operational procedures, including requiring a credit card from guests before taking orders outside.
Rivera's method was to consistently order similar items such as grilled wings, mozzarella sticks, and top-shelf liquor. "Which was stupid. He ordered the same things," Marques told WSVN. Rivera was spotted on surveillance footage dressed sharply in a blazer and sunglasses.
Authorities ultimately took Rivera into custody on Wednesday night in Doral. He was held without bond, facing charges of an organized scheme to defraud and defrauding an innkeeper. "When you take advantage of the homegrown, small-town guy, it’s not cool," Marques also emphasized to WSVN. Previous records show that Rivera was wanted for a strong-arm robbery probation warrant in 2019 and was accused of similar dine-and-dash behavior at an Outback Steakhouse in 2024, underscoring a pattern of such incidents.
