Help for a confused bartender.

[Christie052985]

My question is little tricky. I live in the state of Indiana and am a bartender. About 3 weeks ago I had a guy run out the back door to skip out on his tab. I did have his credit card but it was declined. A bouncer ran after him and found him but he jumped on his motorcycle and left. The guy was a friend of a friend so I text him to see if he would pay me back. He told me that when he got paid in 2 weeks he would but it has now been 3 weeks and he has stopped responding to my messages. Unfortunately the manager did not call the authorities that night but at the end of the night I was told I had to cover the tab. I suppose my questions are as follows;
-Is it to late to involve the police?
-If I do call local law inforcement will they be able to help at all?
-Should I have paid the tab? Is the bar at fault and should I go above my manager to resolve the situation?

Please advice.

[GoDirectly2Jail]

DID you pay the tab? That part of your story is unclear.

[Curt581]

Why are you letting people you don't know all that well run a tab?

[Citicop]

If you had called the police that night, he would have been arrested for stealing. But when you contact him and arrange a payment plan, it becomes a civil matter. You will likely need to sue him in small claims court now.

-Citicop

[mcsap]

If you had called the police that night, he would have been arrested for stealing. But when you contact him and arrange a payment plan, it becomes a civil matter. You will likely need to sue him in small claims court now.

-Citicop

Agreed. It can be risky to " lend " money and now you made it a civil case.

The guy committed credit card fraud and you allowed him to do so by not pursuing it. Next time , when they run , call the police.