“…the man who passed as a hapless hotel guest was actually a skilled con artist who claimed he had been robbed of his wallet to persuade receptionists to let him have a room…he promised to pay the next day, offering a phony 
bank statement as proof that he was good for it…”
Larry Raymond grew accustomed to the high life during his short stays in the city’s finest hotels, where he dined in restaurants, patronized gift shops and enjoyed a cup of Starbucks coffee now and then. He ran up hundreds of dollars in tabs — police said he spent more than $1,500 at the Uptown Marriott — and had it all billed to his room.
But Mr. Raymond never settled up. Mr. Raymond’s lavish run came to an end late Wednesday when police arrested him in Room 216 of the Cambria Suites in Uptown less than an hour after he checked in. He told a manager his wallet and credit card had been stolen.
Mr. Raymond, 55, who has no permanent address, spent Thursday in the Allegheny County Jail. Court records show he was unable to post $50,000 bail.
“He’s a nationwide con artist,” said Detective Jack Mook of the city’s Zone 2 police station, who began investigating Mr. Raymond’s suspicious stay in Pittsburgh last week when the security director of the Omni William Penn Downtown told him about a guest who claimed his wallet was stolen and skipped out on a $753 bill.
