Detroit man accused of using gay dating app to target rape victims
A 28-year-old man from Detroit has been accused of using a gay dating app to sexually assault and rob two men.
Elazar Withers was arrested on Monday during a traffic stop, and is accused of all three crimes.
He is accused of using Jack’d, a gay app, to target three men.
Two of the victims were sexually assaulted and robbed, and the third was carjacked.
All three crimes took place in the early hours of Friday 18 March, reports MLive.
All of the victims were contacted via Jack’d, said police.
One victim, a 37-year-old man, was ordered out of his car by a man, held at gunpoint.
His car was recovered two miles away, after he ran to a petrol station for assistance.
Another man, 30, was walked along a nearby road, and was called over to a car, and held at gunpoint and told to get in the car.
After he got in, he was sexually assaulted.
“The suspect drove to a secluded area at Reno and Fairmount, where the suspect sexually assaulted and robbed the victim,” Detroit police said in a statement.
“The suspect then fled from the location. The victim returned to the area of 8 Mile Rd. and Schoenherr where he flagged down Warren Police Officers, who notified DPD.”
Another man, 24-years-old, met a man for a date at around 7.20am the same morning. He says he was robbed at gunpoint and sexually assaulted.
All three of the victims had used Jack’d to speak to Withers, police said.
The accused has been charged with kidnapping, first decree criminal sexual assault, two counts of second degree criminal sexual assault, two counts of armed robbery, and felony firearm.
Police hope to charge Withers with carjacking, also.
The Detroit Police Sex Crime Unit is appealing for information.
