Man held hostage, forced to strip naked after meeting woman on dating app, WA cops say
.jpg "After meeting a woman on a dating app, a man was held hostage and forced to strip naked during a robbery, authorities said. Photo by Getty Images")
After meeting a woman on a dating app, a man was held hostage and forced to strip naked during a robbery, authorities said.
The 30-year-old called 911 on Saturday, Aug. 20, to report the kidnapping and robbery, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said on Facebook.
The man said he met the woman, who told him she was close in age, on a dating app, officials said. The man drove to her Parkland apartment after the two agreed to meet in person.
“He said he was in her apartment for about five minutes when a man appeared and pointed a gun at him,” the post said.
The man demanded that he take off his clothes and give them money, officials said. The woman started taking photos of him nude.
The pair told the man to transfer $6,000 to their account using an app, according to the post. The transaction, however, was “flagged as fraudulent” and failed.
The pair continued to make the man try “numerous other transactions” using other apps, officials said. At one point, the two even tried to pose as the man over the phone to unlock an account.
Three hours later, the man was released, but the pair “threatened to send the nude photos to everyone in the victim’s contact list if he told anyone what happened,” according to officials.
Using social media apps, the man worked with deputies to try to identify the suspects, the post said.
The next day, deputies were sent to the same apartment about a “domestic violence assault,” officials said, and recognized the man from the robbery.
Deputies went to arrest the man, who “reached for a gun inside his pocket,” officials said. After preventing him from drawing the gun, deputies arrested the 22-year-old and put him in a patrol car, where he broke the interior door panel and seat belt trying to escape.
The man, whose bail was set at $125,000, is facing charges of kidnapping, extortion, unlawful possession of a firearm and malicious mischief, deputies said. The man has a lengthy criminal history, police said.
The 19-year-old woman’s bail was set at $50,000, and she is facing robbery, kidnapping and extortion charges, officials said.
Parkland is about seven miles south of Tacoma.
This story was originally published August 26, 2022 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Man held hostage, forced to strip naked after meeting woman on dating app, WA cops say."
