DETROIT – Detroit police have arrested a man suspected of using Tinder and other dating apps to lure women to an apartment complex so he could get in their vehicles and rob them at gunpoint.
Marcus Edwards, 27, of Detroit, has been formally charged in connection with two separate instances, according to authorities.
Detroit police Lt. Matthew Fulgenzi said officers were called Feb. 7 to the Anthos Gardens apartment complex on East Outer Drive near 7 Mile Road.
A woman told police she had arrived at the complex to meet a man she’d interacted with on Tinder. The man had her go to the back corner of the apartment complex, she said.
He entered her vehicle, pulled out a gun and announced a robbery, the woman said. She fled from the area and called 911, which caused police to launch an investigation.
Detroit officials poured over Green Light video from the apartment complex and surrounding areas and looked at crime mapping to determine a second armed robbery had happened Jan. 8 in the same location.
In the Jan. 8 case, the woman said she had been robbed at gunpoint and sexually assaulted by a man she met on a dating app. The perpetrator in that case had the same description as in the Feb. 7 incident, according to Fulgenzi.
“He lured them in with confidence to take them out on a date and take advantage of them,” Fulgenzi said.
Investigators identified Edwards as the suspect and conducted an arrest and search operation on Feb. 16, they said. He was arrested while leaving the complex, and officials seized a firearm from his apartment, according to authorities.
Officials said Edwards typically stole rings and jewelry. Some of that property was found at the complex, they said.
Edwards has been formally charged in connection with the Jan. 8 and Feb. 7 instances.
Fulgenzi said two additional cases in the area of 7 Mile Road and Outer Drive have been linked to Edwards. In both instances, women were targeted on a dating site, and one was even attacked in the parking lot of a gas station, police said.
“They are truly victims in this matter,” Fulgenzi said. “They went to these locations to meet someone. This day and age, it’s often that people meet on dating sites. That’s the way dating is going these days, and this is someone who took advantage of that system and preyed on these victims.”
Those two additional instances are under review and have been forwarded to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.
All four robberies happened on the street, with someone entering the women’s vehicles and announcing a robbery almost immediately, Fulgenzi said. A firearm was used in each instance.
You can watch the full update from Flugenzi and Detroit police Cpt. Jevon Johnson below.
