A first date for a Washington man meeting with a woman from an online dating app turned into a terrifying hostage situation in which authorities said he was robbed at gunpoint, stripped naked and threatened with his own nude photos.
The 30-year-old victim, who was not identified, met the woman on the app Plenty of Fish, where she posed as being around his age, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said in a release.
The man went to an apartment complex in Parkland, a suburb of Tacoma, on Saturday for a hopeful first date. But instead, he was kidnapped and extorted, authorities said.
Just five minutes after he arrived at the apartment, a man emerged and pointed a gun at him, the sheriff's office said.
Authorities said that the man ordered the victim to take off his clothing and hand over his money and that after he stripped off his clothes, a woman at the apartment took photos of him. `
The pair then demanded that the victim unlock his cellphone and transfer $6,000 to their account using an app, but the transaction was flagged as fraudulent and failed to go through, officials said.
The couple forced the victim to try several other transactions via various apps, going as far as to pose as the victim over the phone to unlock the account, the sheriff's office said.
The victim was finally released after three hours, but the couple threatened that if he told anyone about what happened, they'd release his nude photos to everyone in his contact list, officials said.
Still, the victim reported the incident, and deputies worked with him to identify the suspects using social media apps and “other means,” the sheriff's office said.
The next day, deputies arrived at the same apartment on a domestic violence assault call, and when they arrived, they recognized the male suspect from the date-turned-robbery, the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies tried to take him into custody, but “the suspect reached for a gun inside his pocket,” the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies were able to place the suspect in handcuffs, according to authorities, who said that once he was in the patrol car, he was not cooperative. He moved the handcuffs to the front of his body, broke the car’s interior door panel “in an attempt to escape” and broke the top of the seat belt fastener to use as a tool to help him, the sheriff’s office said.
The man, 22, was charged with robbery, kidnapping, extortion, unlawful possession of a firearm and malicious mischief, all in the first degree. His bail was set at $125,000, authorities said.
Officials said he has multiple felony convictions, including as a juvenile for robbery. One of his convictions was for unlawful possession of a firearm, and he is under the supervision of the Department of Corrections.
The female suspect, 19, was arrested and charged with robbery, kidnapping and extortion. Her bail was set at $50,000.
Neither of the suspects' names were released.
"Always do your research and trust your instinct," the sheriff's office said, warning the public to be careful in online dating.
