Wallingford Man Robbed During Date Night Ruse: New Haven Police

NEW HAVEN, CT — A Wallingford man who thought he was going on a date ended up a robbery victim instead Saturday night in New Haven, according to police. At about 7:25 p.m. on May 26, police began investigating a robbery in which a 35-year-old Wallingford man said he went to a Hotchkiss Street address to meet a woman he had set up a date with through the website “Plenty of Fish,” according to New Haven Police Spokesman Officer David Hartman. Instead, the man found himself cornered in the backyard by two men demanding his valuables, according to Hartman.

“The victim said he’d been texting with the woman he was to meet,” Hartman said in a press release. “She called herself ‘Kristen.’ Once at the home, he found the front door locked. ‘Kristen’ told him to come to the back door. Two men greeted him. One had a knife. He asked if he was there to see his sister. The men demanded his money. The victim hopped a fence but found himself cornered in the back yard. He fought with the crooks until one got him in a head-lock. The other began going through his pockets.

“The victim said he was relieved of his I-phone, keys and wallet containing cash and credit cards. The perps took the victim to his Chevrolet Silverado and forced him into the passenger seat. They told him they were going to an ATM. The victim unlocked the door and escaped. He ran until he spotted a woman outside having a smoke. She let him use her phone to call the cops.”

Hartman said the two suspects ran away and left the victim’s truck on Hotchkiss Street. Witnesses in the area corroborated the victim’s story, but none called police, Hartman said. The victim declined medical treatment.

The first suspect is described as a black man, about 19 years old, 5-feet, 9-inches tall and thin. He wore a black T-shirt and khaki pants. The other suspect is described as a black man, about 16 years old who was wearing a blue zip-up sweatshirt, denim jeans and a blue hat.

Hartman said no “Kristen” was found and police are continuing to investigate.

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