What to Know
- Authorities are looking for a third man and a teenage girl in connection with a robbery scheme through which men are lured via a dating site
- They think they're meeting a woman at a Bronx home, but instead are confronted by a group of men who attack and rob them
- Two men have already been arrested in the case; cops are looking for a third and also want to question a teenage girl
Authorities are looking for a third man and a teenage girl in connection with a robbery scheme in which unsuspecting victims are lured via a dating website to a Bronx home and then violently robbed by a number of men.
Police have already arrested two men on various charges in the six-attack spree, which dates back to December. In the first five cases, police say the victims were lured to the home on a dating site under the pretense of meeting a woman. In the most recent case, Jan. 23, the 21-year-old victim was attacked as he simply walked on the sidewalk near the home.
None of the victims -- all men between the ages of 19 and 27 -- were severely hurt in any of the cases. The suspects stole hundreds of dollars in cash, credit and debit cars, a scooter and a slew of Android, Samsung Galaxy and other phones.
One man was arrested the day of the last attack in January. A second was apprehended a month later. Police say the third suspect has been identified as 24-year-old DeManuel Lawton, and that he has been captured on surveillance cameras using a stolen ATM card from one of the attacks.
Authorities also want to question a person of interest identified as Janessia Roberts, a 16-year-old girl, regarding the online dating accounts used to lure the victims to the Bronx home on Park Avenue. It wasn't clear which dating website was used to lure the victims.
Anyone with information about the robbery pattern is asked to call 1-800-577-TIPS.
