Many folks may be looking for a little love in these anxious times. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course.
But you do have to take precautions.
We’ve already seen this week how not everyone you meet online is who they say they are. A fake female FBI agent prowling for single men on a dating site just got three years in the can for her “misrepresentation”.
Unfortunately, one Michigan man has now learned the hard way not to take online declarations of desire at face value.
The unnamed victim from the town of Warren was found shot in the torso at his home late Sunday, local police chief William Dwyer told the Detroit Free Press.
The 22-year-old man had earlier met Summer Louise Desjardin, 24, on Facebook and set up a meetup for sex at his place, police said.
However, as soon as Desjardin was admitted to the victim’s home, the woman’s boyfriend allegedly also pushed his way inside brandishing a firearm and began demanding money.
The victim is then said by police to have refused to cooperate, whereupon Desjardin’s boyfriend, named by police as 21-year-old Daniel Alexander Wargo, shot him.
Authorities did not say exactly what was eventually stolen from the victim’s home. However, following the shooting, the dastardly couple is reported to have fled the scene in a Chevrolet Cavalier.
Police were later able to identify Desjardin as a suspect through social media, where they located her phone number and tracked it to a location in the town of Wayne. She and Wargo were arrested there earlier this week inside the Cavalier.
A judge set bond at $1 million for Wargo, who was also charged with assault with intent to murder and possession of a firearm by a felon. According to Department of Corrections records, he skipped parole earlier this year after serving prison time for a home invasion.
Bail for Desjardin was set at around $250,000.
As of Thursday, the victim was recovering in hospital in a stable condition.