New York police are investigating a social media scheme designed to lure men to hotels in the Bronx with the promise of sex, only for masked criminals to tie them up at gunpoint and rob them.
NYPD investigators said they are looking into five separate robberies between July 7 – 26 in which a woman used Facebook to invite men to several hotels in NYC, where they fell into a cruel trap.
‘Once both [the woman and victim] are inside of the hotel room, the female instructs the male to take a shower, and while he is in the bathroom she lets into the hotel room another female and a male,’ the NYPD said.
‘When the victim exits the bathroom the second female and the male both display firearms at the victim and threaten to shoot him.’
Investigators said the victims were then tied up with duct tape to prevent any struggle, and were relieved of their phones, wallets and any cash they were carrying.
NYPD Crime Stoppers on Sunday released security camera footage of the two women and a man who are thought to have orchestrated the scheme, appealing to the public for help in cracking the case.
NYPD released security cam footage of the three individuals thought to have orchestrated the robberies. The top two images depict the same woman, while the centre bottom and bottom right images depict the only man involved in the scheme
The first of five robberies happened on the evening of July 7, when a 31-year-old victim had his phone, wallet and cards seized after being bound with duct tape in a room at the Wheeler Hotel at 1162 Wheeler Avenue, according to police
One of the women, aged in her 20s, was described as being 5’2” tall, weighing roughly 200lbs and sporting glasses and a distinct shoulder tattoo.
The second woman was said to be older, around 40 years old, and much smaller at 4’11” and 140lbs, though the pair both have black hair.
The male accomplice meanwhile is believed to be about 25 years old, stands 5’10” and weighs about 170 pounds with a medium build and black hair.
All three individuals are thought to have been implicated in each robbery, given the similarities in their method of execution and the proximity of the crime scenes.
The first incident happened on the evening of July 7, when a 31-year-old victim had his phone, wallet and cards seized after being bound with duct tape in a room at the Wheeler Hotel at 1162 Wheeler Avenue, according to police.
The next two robberies took place on July 16 and 17 at the Crown Motor Inn at 3320 Boston Road and the Friendly Motor Inn at 1119 East Gun Hill Road, a police statement said.
A fourth robbery was conducted at the Van Cortlandt Motel at 6393 Broadway just over a week later on July 24, before a fifth unfolded on Tuesday, July 26 at the Sheridan Hotel at 1440 Sheridan Blvd.
All five victims were men aged between 31-48 and lost their phones, credit and debit cards, cash and in some cases car keys.
None of the men were hurt in the robberies, cops said.
The second and third of the five robberies occurred just one day apart on July 16-17 at the Crown Motor Inn (top) and the Friendly Motor Inn (bottom) respectively
Crime has skyrocketed in New York City over the past couple of years. So far this year, crime is up 36 percent compared to the same time last year
Anyone with information on the robberies is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, or on Twitter @NYPDTips.
It comes as New York City reels in the midst of a startling wave of crime which prompted mayor Eric Adams to declare he had ‘never witnessed crime at this level’ back in May.
Overall crime in the city is up by 36.9 per cent with 18,618 more reported incidents to date versus last year.
Grand larceny is the top crime in the city with felony assault following shortly behind.
Felony assault is up 19 per cent from 2021 with 2,310 more reported incidents, according to NYPD statistics.
The year-to-date statistics show 14,461 felony assaults have been reported in comparison to 12,151 during the same time last year.
Two people were killed and at least 12 more were injured in 11 separate shooting and stabbing incidents in a night of bloodshed in New York City on July 17.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk