[Getty Images Bank]
[Getty Images Bank]

The story of a business owner in her 80s who chased down a man who ate and ran without paying has aired on television.

JTBC's "Sabun Banjang" on Thursday reported the account of a tipster identified only as A, who has run a cafe in Jukbyeon-myeon, Uljin County, North Gyeongsang Province, for two years.

According to the broadcast, a man believed to be in his 50s walked into A's cafe at around 11:11 a.m. Wednesday and asked for four bottles of beer.

A told him he needed to pay first, but the man kept insisting he wanted the beer before paying. Worried the situation might escalate into a dispute, A handed over the four bottles and went into the kitchen.

About five minutes later, the same man got into an altercation at the cafe with a woman in her 80s who runs a nearby restaurant. Before showing up at the cafe, the man had eaten oyster pancakes, fried eggs and beer at the woman's restaurant and left without paying. When the woman said she would call the police, he cursed at her and fled, making his way to the tipster's cafe, about a five-minute walk away.

At the cafe, the woman tried to catch the man, telling him, "I've called the police, so wait here." He slipped out of his short-sleeved T-shirt, pulling his head and arms free, and ran off shirtless.

The woman chased after him on a tricycle but ultimately could not catch him.

The unpaid bill at the restaurant came to about 30,000 won ($22), and the beer he drank at the cafe was worth about 7,000 won.

The woman went to a police substation that day to report the incident but found it closed, and she returned home without filing a report.


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