Thieves are using Grindr hook-ups to attack and rob gay men, again
Davion Johnson, 20, has been arrested over the Grindr robberies (Photo: MARTIN BUREAU/AFP via Getty Images)
A Chicago man has been charged with armed robbery and theft after seeking out victims on Grindr.
Davion Johnson, 20, was arrested on Monday over three separate robberies, carried out at hotels across Chicago between November and January.
According to police, Johnson targeted three men aged between 40 and 57 – threatening the victims with a stun gun before stealing their phone, credit cards and money.
Man charged with armed robbery over Chicago hook-up app thefts.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Johnson is charged with felony counts of armed robbery and robbery, and a misdemeanor count of theft.
The arrest comes days after police issued a warning over a string of similar incidents in the city, which involved men being lured to hotel rooms for Grindr hook-ups – where they were threatened and robbed.
Police had warned that multiple assailants could be behind the pattern of incidents, identifying four further robberies across Chicago. Johnson has not faced charges over any of those attacks.
According to Chicago Police Department, Grindr is cooperating with the investigation.
Hook-up app Grindr has been linked to a string of violent crimes (Photo: Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Johnson, who has been released on bail, is due in court on February 10.
Grindr is a popular tool for criminals to find victims.
The cases are only the latest incidence of crime connected with Grindr, which has been leveraged by criminals around the world to lure unsuspecting gay victims into dangerous scenarios.
A case hit the headlines last month after 25-year-old Kevin Bacon was murdered and mutilated in Michigan by a man he had met on Grindr.
In July last year, a Detroit man was charged with murder after allegedly using Grindr to track down gay people to shoot dead – killing one man and critically injuring another.
In August 2018, 54-year-old Eric Michels of London was murdered with a GHB overdose after being targeted by two men who used the app to find robbery victims.
London-based serial killer Stephen Port was jailed for life in 2016 after killing four men, many of whom he lured to Grindr hook-ups before fatally drugging them.
