Police: Serial dine-and-dasher skips out on bills including $1,200 glass of whiskey

WASHINGTON - According to arrest records, a 21-year-old man has been caught multiple times trying to leave without paying expensive bills at swanky restaurants and bars in downtown D.C.

The man is identified in police reports as Nicholas James Cooper, a British citizen, according to the Washington Post.

Cooper is accused of leaving without paying the bills at luxury hotels and restaurants including The Hay-Adams, the Ritz-Carlton, the Willard InterContinental Washington and Old Ebbitt Grill.

Police say Cooper ran up a tab of more than $2,000 at the Ritz-Carlton, including a meal of rack of lamb, grilled octopus and a $1,200 glass of 34-year-old whiskey. The arrest report says Cooper tried charging the bill to someone else's room.

Records show Cooper did not pay two separate tabs at the Willard InterContinental Washington and Old Ebbitt Grill. A charging affidavit says while drinking at the Willard, a Secret Service police officer monitoring Cooper for suspicious actions near the White House overheard him making plans to jump the White House fence.

In several of the earlier incidents, which began on March 13, Cooper was released and then allowed to ditch another bar tab.

Arrest documents indicate there is a stay-away order in effect for Cooper near the White House. He is set to appear in court on April 12.