A 28-year-old Manhattan resident was choked and robbed in Central Park on Friday after meeting up with a man she met online, local authorities confirmed.
A woman, whose identity has been withheld, reported over the weekend that she had connected with a man on a dating app called Skout. They reportedly first both met at a nearby McDonald’s before the man convinced her to accompany him, claiming that he had lost his ID somewhere in Central Park, the New York Post reported.
Upon being lured to an empty area in the park, the assailant reportedly choked her and took her money, according to police.
Law enforcement said that the suspect put the woman in a chokehold before snatching her purse containing $400, around 1:15 a.m. near the landmark Tavern on the Green restaurant on West 67th Street. The victim was left largely unharmed.
The suspect has been described as about 25-years old with blonde hair in braids, and was last seen wearing a green T-shirt and purple shorts.
On March 15 this year, a man also stole $200 before shoving a 23-year-old Brooklyn woman who he initially met on a dating app.
Surveillance footage captured the man shirtless while he was heading to the victim’s apartment. The incident happened near Albany Avenue and Herkimer Street in Bed-Stuy, police said.
Authorities on Tuesday released video footage showing the suspect reportedly responsible for the ordeal, NBC New York reported.
According to The Guardian, safety issues have been raised against different dating apps, with initiatives mounting to get information into the hands of dating app users before a date even takes place.
Match Group, which includes apps Tinder, OkCupid, and Hinge, recently announced a partnership with a non-profit detective company named Garbo to incorporate background checks into its online properties.
In September 2020, a former police officer and head of the Women’s Safety and Gender-Based Violence Operations at Uber Tracey Breeden was also hired by Match Group to progress safety features.
According to The Guardian, Garbo’s goal is to develop a two- to three-minute background check that flags information to dating app users without sharing home addresses, email addresses, or phone numbers. If a user chooses to run a background check on a match, the user would pay a yet-to-be-determined fee.
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