The New York City Police Department is investigating another drug-induced robbery in connection with a criminal scheme — largely targeting men visiting gay bars — that has left at least two men dead, police sources say. The previously unreported incident took place just days before several suspects in the scheme were arrested and indicted.
Between September 2021 and August 2022, the suspects drugged their victims in order to gain access to their cellphones and rob them, often using facial recognition technology, according to prosecutors. Two of the victims, John Umberger, a 33-year-old political consultant, and Julio Ramirez, a 25-year-old social worker, were found dead as result of the drug-induced robberies, prosecutors said.
Michael, a 30-year-old gay man, is the most recent of at least 16 victims. He came forward for the first time to NBC News and asked that his full name not be published out of fear of retaliation from the individuals involved. On March 25, Michael said, he was drugged and robbed of roughly $5,000 after visiting The Eagle NYC, a gay bar in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, where at least three similar incidents had been previously reported. The Eagle NYC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Authorities are investigating the March 25 incident as connected to the same “citywide robbery pattern” that resulted in six suspects being indicted between March 29 and April 13, police sources say. The sources said there have been no charges made specifically in Michael’s case.
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Four of the six suspects had been arrested months earlier on grand larceny charges in connection with the scheme. Three were released soon after because they could not be held in custody under New York bail law.
Authorities have previously stated that, although most of the victims in the scheme are gay men, they were targeted for financial gain and not because of their sexual orientation. A separate group is suspected of committing similar crimes on 26 victims visiting bars mostly without an LGBTQ affiliation.
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