Police say the Waukesha man took a cab to a mall Monday and pretended to have a heart attack. The cab driver left unpaid.

Authorities say the man then ran up a US$23 (S$31) bill when he had a steak dinner at a restaurant. He again pretended to have a heart attack.

This time the fire department took him to a hospital. A doctor there recognised the man as having pulled the same stunt in the past few weeks.

He was charged on Thursday with defrauding a restaurant as a habitual criminal. He could get up to nine months in prison and a US$10,000 fine. -- AP