LEWISTON — Accused of skipping out of bills at nearly a dozen area restaurants, Devin Skehan, 24, was sentenced to one day in jail on Wednesday after agreeing to a plea bargain.
According to Androscoggin County Jail records, Skehan was set to be released from the jail Wednesday night after he was sentenced to one day with time served.
Skehan was arrested Tuesday night after police say he ate at the Gridiron Restaurant in Lewiston and then tried to skip out on paying the bill.
Gridiron management had been on the lookout for Skehan after as many as 10 other restaurant owners reported being stiffed for payment in recent weeks.
Before he was arrested at Gridiron, he was captured on surveillance video at Legends Sports Bar and Grill last week just before he left the business without paying for beer and pizza.
When Legends owner Melinda Small posted the suspect’s photo on Facebook, other restaurant owners came forward to report that the same man had left their businesses without paying.
Just hours after the Legends theft was reported, Skehan was caught at Olive Garden in Auburn by Lewiston Police Officer David Rosquete. With word of Skehan’s alleged exploits spreading on social media, Olive Garden customers erupted in applause as he was removed from the restaurant.
But Skehan was never charged in the theft at Legends. Small gave him the chance to pay his bill instead of being taken to jail. Police said Skehan was able to pay that bill only with the help of family in Florida.
He was then released, but issued criminal trespass warnings at Legends and ten other restaurants. He remained free until his arrest Tuesday night.
According to his family, Skehan has a history of eating food and drinking alcohol at restaurants up and down the East Coast and then skipping out on the bills.
Last summer, he made headlines after he was caught dashing out after a meal in The Villages in Florida, where he was living at the time.
Police said Skehan told them he is homeless and an alcoholic and that he visits restaurants to eat and consume alcohol.
At 5 p.m. Wednesday, he remained jailed, although it was expected he would be released by the end of the day. Conditions set during Skehan’s sentencing prohibit him from entering any of the restaurants at which he has criminal trespass warnings.
Police said Skehan has warnings at many of the restaurants in both Lewiston and Auburn and that he would be subject to arrest again if he enters any of them.
At Legends, Small praised the work of Rosquete and said that public awareness about the issue of food and service theft generated by stories about Skehan will prove beneficial to restaurants trying to crack down on such thefts.
