Fugitive QAnon promoter bails on DC restaurant after racking up staggering $10,000 tab

A top QAnon influencer is being accused by a diner in Washington D.C. of bailing on paying a $10,000 tab that he racked up earlier this year.

As the Daily Beast's Will Sommer reports, QAnon promoter Richard Potcner regularly frequented the D.C.-based Pete's Diner, where he would treat national guard troops guarding the United States Capitol building to meals.

Pete's Diner owner Gum Tong tells Sommer that Potcner initially paid for these meals by asking his fellow Q believers to send him money.

"As the bills piled up, Potcner asked his 200,000 Telegram followers to send him money so he could pay Tong for the meals," Sommer writes. "For months after that, Potcner posted videos of himself settling his tab with donated money from his fans. When Potcner's tab would run out, Tong would continue to serve the meals, only to be paid back later by Potcner."

But one day, Potcner stopped showing up, despite the fact that he still owed the diner $10,000.

"He got the money from the people," Tong tells Sommer. "But we didn't get the money from him."

Making matters worse, Potcner has since trashed Tong's diner on his Telegram channel, which has led to the diner being bombarded with unhinged phone calls.

As it turns out, Potcner also happens to be wanted in two different states for criminal offenses, as he's facing a weapons charge in Pennsylvania and a probation violation charge in Maryland.

Additionally, writes Sommer, the QAnon fan has had many brushes with the law.

"In Maryland, Potcner has been involved in numerous court cases, including a 2019 domestic violence order that required him to surrender any firearms he owned, and allegations that he violated a court-ordered protection order," he writes.