Man Pleads Guilty to Using Grindr to Rob and Assault Victims
metroweekly.comrobbing five separate victims over a span of nine months, from June 2021 to March 2022. Patterson would target potential victims by using Grindr, arranging to meet them at their homes or in hotel rooms under the pretense of sexual encounters.
Once inside, Patterson would ask to use victims’ phones.During a July 2021 incident, one victim gave his phone to Patterson, who went to the victim’s kitchen, pulled out a kitchen knife, threatened the victim, and used the victim’s Venmo account to steal $3,950.
He then used the victim’s online account to pay for two Hotels.com transaction, and used the phone to send text messages to the victim’s friends and family in Nevada asking for money, which Patterson intended to intercept, according to a Justice Department press release.In another incident, in February 2022, Patterson demanded the man’s phone and chased the victim with a stun gun, demanding money.
The victim gave him $120 in cash, and Patterson demanded he hand over jewelry.After Patterson left the victim’s home, he asked the victim’s contacts for money.
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