MIAMI (WSVN) – A restaurant owner is speaking out after a video showed a family of 10 leaving the restaurant without paying for their meal.
David Garcia, owner of the popular and historic La Camaronera Seafood Joint and Fish Market on West Flagler Street, said surveillance footage shows instances of food and ditch crimes. he said.
“This is a family with a baby and a child onboard and it sets a terrible example,” he said. “He obviously lunged at the car.”
In an exclusive interview with 7News, Garcia described how his extended family ran away with food at his restaurant last Friday without paying the bill.
A video Garcia provided to 7News shows the family rushing into a parked SUV as the waiter chases after them, realizing they haven’t been paid.
“You can see him take off, and the driver and my employee had to jump out of the car as he sped off toward Flagler, putting their lives at risk,” Garcia said. said.
“Is it possible they didn’t see him?” 7News reporter Sheldon Fox asked.
“Oh, they definitely saw him, yes. They wouldn’t have sped out of this parking lot like they did,” Garcia said.
Despite the family’s actions, Garcia said they were forgiven because someone returned to the restaurant to do damage control.
“A family member came and paid the bill,” Garcia said.
An elderly relative who was not at the restaurant on Friday returned on Monday to pay the $428 bill. But Garcia said that only happened because the restaurant exposed the family’s actions on social media.
“No restaurant should have to go through what we went through that day and what my employee went through. My employee gave birth to a baby three days ago,” Garcia said. .
However, as a seasonal gesture of goodwill, Garcia requested that the family’s faces be blurred in the video out of respect for the children involved. He also said he did not report his family to the police.
Still, the owner has a message for those thinking of trying the same thing.
“If someone thought about doing it, they would get caught,” Garcia said.
He added that his restaurant has a lot of cameras installed.
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