Milwaukee dine and dasher wanted, dozen restaurants hit
MILWAUKEE - A man's photo is circulating on social media after dozens of establishments have fallen victim to him walking out on tabs. A bartender at Brown Bottle says this man is dangerous.
Brown Bottle is one of the dozens of places this man walked out of without paying. One of the difficulties in catching this dine and dasher is that in many cases, police weren't contacted over such small amounts of money. Police say if a complaint is made, they will investigate it.
It was a typical Mother's Day brunch at Tenuta's.
"It’s mainly big groups, families, but then this just…single guy sat at the bar," said Audra Tempesta, GM at Tenuta’s.
That single guy walked out on a $24 tab.
"An hour and some change later, he was just gone," said Tempesta.
He was caught on camera at the Bay View restaraurant. "He knows he’s doing something wrong because he beats feet down the street."
It's not the first time this man has dined and dashed. More than a dozen establishments posting to social media about him over the last month.
"Ordered a burger, went to the bathroom and never came back," said Holli Behrens, manager at Brown Bottle.
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"He tried to open up a tab. It was a female’s name," said Ryan Steny, owner of Steny's.
His photos and name have been blasted on social media.
"We’re onto him," said Steny. "Almost every bar in the city right now is onto this story and doing what we can to get him caught."
He was caught on camera at Flannery's stealing someone's wallet and walking out on a $60 tab and again at Lucky Ginger.
"This is a problem," said Tempesta. "He’s like, terrorizing local bars and restaurants."
The photos look like the same guy, and his behavior is consistent.
"He wears the same hat," said Steny. "It was a Detroit hat.
"He came in," said Behrens. "He was very nice, very chatty."
"Very chatty, very nice," said Tempesta. "No red flags."
The man hasn't been caught and charged for the dining and dashing, but his smooth talk is something one Milwaukee bartender knows better than anyone.
"He has been actively stalking me, as well," said Kerry Ann Egan.
She's convinced it's Michael Coman.
"He seems to play a consistent pattern of going to bars, walking out on tabs, telling consistent lies to gain trust," said Egan.
The two used to date, but since, Egan has gotten a restraining order against him after he was convicted of stalking her in 2021. Now, she's concerned for the entire community.
"It’s just a matter of safety not just for my behalf, but I don’t want this to happen to anyone else," said Egan. "I don’t want anyone else to get taken advantage of or swindled by this man."
FOX6 News reached out to Coman but have not heard back. As of Tuesday, May 10, there was a warrant for his arrest for violation of a restraining order.