{"id":43487,"date":"2025-11-18T11:53:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T11:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/43487\/"},"modified":"2025-11-18T11:53:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T11:53:08","slug":"nycs-accused-dine-and-dash-diva-busted-twice-again-in-24-hours-while-mocking-cops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/43487\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC’s accused dine-and-dash diva busted twice again in 24 hours — while mocking cops"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Prada-clad accused dine-and-dash diva<\/a> who targets some of the city\u2019s priciest eateries brazenly posted\u00a0Monday\u00a0about hitting up two more hot spots over the weekend \u2014 while mocking cops for tossing her leftovers.<\/p>\n

Alleged serial eat-it-and-beat-it foodie Pei Chung, 34, of Brooklyn\u00a0had already been busted five times since late October for ordering hundreds of dollars in food at top joints \u2014 then claiming to be an influencer<\/a> willing to give them publicity in exchange for freebies, The Post reported Sunday.<\/p>\n

Pei Chung, 34, of Brooklyn\u00a0had already been busted five times. lu.pychung\/Instagram<\/p>\n

Pei orders hundreds of dollars of food at top joints \u2014 then claims to be an influencer willing to give them publicity in exchange for freebies. lu.pychung\/Instagram<\/p>\n

Chung\u00a0was charged each time with theft of services \u2014 crimes that are not bail-eligible \u2014 and freed.<\/p>\n

The alleged scammer, who\u00a0prances around Instagram in Prada heels with Louis Vuitton handbags and Hermes belts, then posted fresh photos Monday from two more alleged dash-and-dine<\/a> visits to Williamsburg restaurants Friday into Saturday \u2014 after she was busted for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe looks normal because she dresses so nice \u2014 the way she eats, orders food \u2014 the way she took photos,\u201d\u00a0said Joy Panics, the manager of trendy Sea Thai, where Chung went Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Chung\u00a0was charged each time with theft of services, and then freed. lu.pychung\/Instagram<\/p>\n

Chung ended up\u00a0flaunting the pricey dishes of filet strips, shrimp and pasta she ordered\u00a0while at Sea Thai and the\u00a0Misi\u00a0eatery\u00a0before police busted her again in both instances.<\/p>\n

The NYPD said that Friday, Chung strolled into the Italian restaurant Misi at 329 Kent Ave. around 5:26 p.m., ordered a meal worth $100 and then refused to pay.<\/a><\/p>\n

The next evening, she hit Sea Thai at 114 N. 6th St. around 6:45 p.m., ordered $123 in food and again refused to pay, triggering her second arrest of the weekend, police said.<\/p>\n

Chung mocked the cops\u00a0in her Instagram captions. lu.pychung\/Instagram<\/p>\n

Chung mocked the cops\u00a0in her Instagram captions.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolice officers threw out my takeout cuisine again which I organized them in the bar like a pro,\u2019\u2019 she wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t mind if they enjoy continuing my takeout cuisine or order more food to share.\u201d<\/p>\n

Panics told The Post she immediately suspected something was off when Chung settled into the restaurant for hours Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was here by herself, she ordered a bunch of food.\u00a0The check came to $120-something,\u201d the manager said.<\/p>\n

She\u00a0said Chung \u2014 who lives in a luxury tower on nearby Kent Avenue \u2013spent about three hours\u00a0at the table while repeatedly photographing her dishes.<\/p>\n

When her\u00a0table\u00a0was needed for incoming reservations, staff asked whether\u00a0Chung\u00a0needed anything else and requested payment, Panics said.<\/p>\n

Chung had arrived dressed in fur, carrying a Louis Vuitton bag and using professional camera equipment. lu.pychung\/Instagram<\/p>\n

\u201cShe left the table and spent 30 minutes in the bathroom. We had to knock, open the door,\u2019\u2019\u00a0the manager said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seemed like she didn\u2019t have money. She gave us three or four credit cards. All of them didn\u2019t have money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Customers at nearby tables started to recognize her from a previous media report and alerted staff that she was the same woman accused of dining and dashing <\/a>at other restaurants, Panics said.<\/p>\n

The restaurant\u2019s security guard then contacted police.<\/p>\n

Chung claimed to the cops that she couldn\u2019t fork up the dough for the food \u201cbecause the government didn\u2019t pay back her tax,\u201d Panics said.<\/p>\n

The manager said the scene was surreal because Chung had arrived dressed in fur, carrying a Louis Vuitton bag and using professional camera equipment.<\/p>\n

The accused fraudster filmed herself apparently earlier in the day posing for the camera while trying on designer duds, saying her Saturday \u201ctasks\u201d included checking out the Hermes luxury store on North Sixth Street.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe dresses so nice,\u2019\u2019 Panics said.\u00a0\u201cShe had fur. Louis Vuitton bag. Nice camera. Everything looks so fine on her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the officer came and checked her stuff, she only had a to-go food bag,\u201d the owner of Sea Thai told The Post. lu.pychung\/Instagram<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not normal,\u2019\u2019 Panics said of the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I talked to her, she couldn\u2019t keep eye contact with me. When the officer asked, \u2018How are you going to pay the bill?\u2019 she asked the officer, \u2018Have you ever paid tax? Do you work for the government? Can you give me a tax return?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has a lot of shopping bags with her\u00a0\u2026 but they are empty,\u2019\u2019 Panics said. \u201cShe has a shopping bag from Gucci, but it\u2019s an empty bag.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the officer came and checked her stuff, she only had a to-go food bag.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chung\u2019s\u00a0weekend arrests extend an alleged crime\u00a0spree that began in late October, when restaurants including the Michelin-starred\u00a0Francie, Lavender Lake, Motorino and Peter Luger said Chung posed as a food influencer complete with a lighting setup before allegedly dashing on hefty tabs.<\/p>\n

Chung\u2019s\u00a0weekend arrests extend an alleged crime\u00a0spree that began in late October. lu.pychung\/Instagram<\/p>\n

Chung continued posting glowing food photography and florid reviews of the\u00a0meals she allegedly never paid for. lu.pychung\/Instagram<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s going into established restaurants dressed to the nines, racking up hundreds of dollars in food, defrauding them, then posting on Instagram like the restaurant hired her,\u201d a source had\u00a0told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll her cards were declined,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

At Peter Luger, a manager said\u00a0Chung disappeared into the bathroom for 45 minutes before allegedly offering sexual favors to wipe her $146 bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs there anything else I can do for you because I don\u2019t want to pay this check,\u201d she asked a worker, according to the restaurant.<\/p>\n

Despite the escalating arrests, Chung continued posting glowing food photography and florid reviews of the\u00a0meals she allegedly never paid for.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach slice reveals a deep rose center under a caramelized crust \u2014 a balance of char and tenderness perfected over decades,\u201d she wrote in a blog entry about Peter Luger<\/a>, adding, \u201cThe fat melts like silk, carrying the essence of oak and iron from the grill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chung did not respond to requests for comment. Her public defender declined comment.<\/p>\n

-Additional reporting by Kyle Schnitzer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Prada-clad accused dine-and-dash diva who targets some of the city\u2019s priciest eateries brazenly posted\u00a0Monday\u00a0about hitting up two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43488,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[101,3283,98,57,9,56,63,65,64,104,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-43487","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-arrest","9":"tag-arrests","10":"tag-brooklyn","11":"tag-metro","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-ny","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-nyc-headlines","16":"tag-nyc-news","17":"tag-police","18":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}