Police boss pulls gun on Grindr date after hookup goes horribly wrong: ‘I should f**king kill you’
Openly gay Miami police officer Tommy Reyes. (Screen capture via YouTube)
A gay police officer in Florida has claimed to have been “victimised” by his own department after he was robbed by a Grindr date.
Seargent Tommy Reyes, one of the Miami Police Department’s top cops, pulled a firearm at an anonymous Grindr date in Tallahassee when the man swiped his wallet and exhorted him.
After the date spent more than $1,300 of Reyes’ money, the pair met in a car parking lot where Reyes pointed a gun at the man before pinning him down, reportedly leaving him with cuts.
“I should f**king kill you,” Reyes said as he placed his knee on the date’s back, the man later told Tallahassee police.
According to a Tallahassee Police Department report filed 11 January and obtained by the Miami New Times, Reyes was nearly charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Miami police suspended Reyes, who heads the department’s union, pending an investigation.
“I was a victim and I have nothing to hide,” he told the newspaper, “but I cannot comment on an open investigation.
“I was a victim of a crime, and Tallahassee PD victimised me again.”
He added: “I will stand strong and tell you my brothers and sisters that I was the victim of a crime, and I am once again being victimised by some of our own people.”
Gay police union chief told Grindr robber: ‘I should f**king kill you’
Reyes, 36, had met with a man for an anonymous hookup at a Hampton Inn and Suites hotel when he visited Tallahassee in January.
It was a subpar sexual experience, the date told officers, adding that he pretended to ejaculate on Reyes’ back by spitting on him.
Wary Reyes would “mess with him”, he swiped the officer’s wallet when he saw Reyes’ police badge and law enforcement credentials inside.
The date messaged the officer on Grindr in an attempt to “blackmail” him shortly after, amounting to a “shopping spree” that Reyes agreed to on the condition his wallet be returned.
But no such spree took place. Instead, the man spent more than $1,300 in a Best Buy using his American Express card. The tab also included a $10 donation to St Judge’s Children’s Hospital.
That same day, Reyes met the man at a Hampton Inn parking lot, he told police. Inside the date’s car, Reyes made him empty his pockets for any weaponry and reached over to the front passenger seat to remove the keys from the ignition.
Confused, the date told Reyes he still had his wallet. “And I’ve got a gun,” Reyes replied, drawing the firearm out as he ordered the man to exit the vehicle and lie on the ground.
Reyes intended to detain the man and did not attempt to make an arrest – to do so outside of his jurisdiction would be unlawful.
“I should f**king kill you,” Reyes said as he placed his knee on the date’s back, the man told police.
Local surveillance footage seen by Tallahassee law enforcement showed Reyes pointing the gun at the man, jostling him out of the car before the man fled to a service station.
Law enforcement tracked the date down by locating his vehicle, which turned out to be his mother’s. The date agreed to give a statement when meeting officers at Florida A&M University.
He showed police the “scrapes” on his left knee and elbow, “cuts”, “possible bruising” and a “wound on the back of his head which was red and had dried blood on it”, the report added.
Because Reyes pinned the man and drew out a gun, Tallahassee police said there was probable cause to charge him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill – a third-degree felony.
Reyes was relieved of duty with pay as Miami police conduct their own ongoing investigation.
But the charge against him was later dropped by the Tallahassee-Leon County State Attorney’s Office as prosecutors said there was “no reasonable likelihood of prosecution”.
