A Houston man found himself the victim of a pump-and-dump robbery when the guy he hooked up with from Grindr stole his cellphone and wallet.
“The two met up and upon leaving the suspect stole the cellphone that had a wallet attached,” Jodi Silva, spokesperson for the Houston Police Department, told About.
The suspect was later identified as 23-year-old Robert Taylor Williams.
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According to police, Williams went over to the victim’s apartment on July 9 to, ahem, hang out for a while. He left a short while later, only to return after a few minutes claiming he forgot his keys. That’s when he swiped the victim’s cellphone and wallet.
According to Silva, he used the credit cards to make purchases at “gas stations and such.”
On Wednesday, the victim reached out to Williams via Grindr. The two men agreed to “meet up” at a popular gay bar called Guava Lamp. That’s when the victim called the cops. Realizing he had walked into a trap, Williams bolted.
When police arrived at the bar, they were unable to locate the 23-year-old. So they asked a friend of his to try and lure him back to the bar. Miraculously, it worked! The friend agreed to throw his buddy under the bus.
“The friend of the suspect assisted police in getting Williams to return to the scene where Houston Police promptly arrested Williams,” Silva said.
Williams is being charged with with theft, a Class A misdemeanor. According to Harris County District Clerk’s office, he has previously been charged with fraud and criminal mischief.
The moral of the story: When inviting strangers you meet on Grindr over to your house, always hide your wallet.
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Captain Obvious
I don’t know why so many guys fall for this obvious set up by “friends”. They talk you into doing something illegal and then throw your ass under the bus for their own amusement. Good luck finding a job in 2015 with a criminal record.
Jim DelRae
C’mon guys, if your going to invite a stranger over.. at least be able to protect yourself.
Bob LaBlah
@Captain Obvious: There are no friends amongst thieves and criminals. It sounds like one of two things as to this “friend”: !. The police had “something” on this friend that it was agreed “help us and we will be either blind/didn’t see and you will walk” or 2. He ripped off this “friend” and the “friend” got even. I hate to judge a book by its cover but this guy looks the type whose crippled great-grandmother would not let him in the house until she hid her purse. I bet he is also good looking too. What a waste of a kid.
Ditamo
I don’t get it, the person who was the friend assisted police in arresting a thief and he is being treated as a rat in the article. When did doing the right thing turn into something frowned upon? Why use words such as “throw under the bus”? If a “friend” of mine did the same I wouldn’t hesitate doing the same, since from that point on he would not be my friend.
Evji108
Rule # 1 of hookups: Hide your cell, wallet and car keys when he isn’t looking. Just pretend to go to the bathroom or the kitchen and on the way there, stuff them under a cushion or in an out-of-the-way drawer or closet. That guy may be hot & horny, but he may also be a thief.
Captain Obvious
@Ditamo: If you’ve never been a victim of “He did it!” bullying for the amusement of the larger group then you won’t know why some of us see through this act.
There are plenty of lonely people who have a hard time making friends so vicious groups see these people as entertainment. They make you feel like you belong for a minute or two, then they talk you into doing something stupid, and when someone of authority gets involved “He did it!”. Everyone turns on you and suddenly your “friends” become the accusers who saw everything and can’t wait to help you go down for whatever happened. Even if you weren’t actually the one who did it, there are too many people saying they saw you do it for anyone to believe anything otherwise.
I also don’t know how well versed you are in the city and police interaction or not but no one and I do mean NO ONE with any sense whatsoever gets involved with the police. Why? It makes you liable to be sued(or worse), even as a “witness”. So the only times I’ve ever see anyone actively trying to throw someone under the bus is because they were directly involved, covering their own ass, and trying to set someone up.
My parents taught me all of this at an early age and I thank God they did because I get to be the one who observes this crap go down rather than be a victim of it like I was as a kid.
At the end of the day no matter how it went down it’s still the fault of the guy who stole the wallet(if he actually stole the wallet) because he allowed himself to fall in with the wrong kind of people and went along with the crowd.
It’s not about treating someone like a “rat”, I’m saying there are many “cool kid” types who set things like this up for their own entertainment. Pressure you into committing a crime and then give anonymous tips or even flat out in your face information to get YOU in trouble.
But if you wanna be naïve enough to believe the Upright Citizens Brigade interacts with the police out of the goodness of their hearts then hey whatever floats your boat. I’m sure they had a good laugh afterward, including their friend who was “robbed”.
I’ve had groups like this try to get me to do things from sell prescription drugs to flat out steal with a promise that I’d be in with their little groups. There’s no heinous Grindr mobster out to steal wallets. This is no different than the girl who pressures the nice kid she just met to steal a t-shirt/dress because she gets away with it all the time. It’s not new and it’s not news. There are many mean people in the world, there are far less nice ones who are just looking out for other people… especially in cities.
dvlaries
I’m glad I’m from the old days when you spent most of an evening in a bar with a prospect before choosing whether or not to get someplace private with him. Drinking, dancing and talking, while not failproof, still bought you a greater measure of time to sense out danger.
Xzamilio
@Ditamo: Yeah, I’m gonna have to agree with you that the wording is bad in describing the friend turning the thief in..
mikelphx
Always hide anything valuable (wallet, cell phone, tablets, laptops, etc.). Also, before hooking up have them text you. This way you got a number. Google that number. You never know. I know it is not bulletproof but at least it is something you have on them.
Ditamo
@Captain Obvious: I don’t know what are you talking about…I didn’t see anywhere in the article that said that the friend helped him or motivated him to steal the wallet…maybe there is missing information in this article?