A man confessed to sneaking into the Sonesta Resort in Hilton Head Island, SC, where he racked up a $2,180 room bill despite never actually checking in. He told Beaufort County Sheriff's Office deputies that he had taken some drugs, including hallucinogenic mushrooms.
He was arrested for defrauding the keeper of a hotel, according to The Island Packet, a newspaper in Hilton Head, SC.
The man had stayed at the Sonesta for three days and enjoyed room service and spa treatments, according to the Packet. He snuck into the room after the previous guest had checked out, and told the hotel that he was with the people who stayed there before him. For a while, the hotel staff didn't catch on.
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Under South Carolina law, obtaining "food, lodging, or other [services], or accommodation at any hotel, motel, inn, boarding, or rooming house, campground, café, or restaurant and intentionally [absconding] without paying for it" is a misdemeanor that is punishable with a fine of $1,000 or less, jail time of six months or less, or both.
The man told police that he had done this before in other Hilton Head Island hotels, but didn't say which ones. But police did find room keys for the Omni Hilton Head and others in his belongings.
He reportedly handed the mushrooms to the police and said he had recently taken some. He said he had just come back from a party in Atlanta, where he had also taken ecstasy, bath salts, and meth.