A guy was trying to hook up online in Bernal Heights last night, and when he went to meet up with the girl, she turned out to be bait for an armed robbery. Two men in their twenties descended on the victim, a man in his 30s, with a gun, demanding his wallet and cell phone. The incident happened around midnight near the intersection of Mission and College Avenue, as Bay City News reports.

The suspects took off in a black sedan with the girl, and possibly two other people.

It's not completely clear how, after this event, the victim contacted police or how the SFPD was then able to locate the suspect vehicle as quickly as they did, but they did. SFPD spokesman Officer Gordon Shyy tells SFist that police were able to "follow up on some investigative leads" that they were already actively pursuing, and were able to quickly track the suspects' black sedan to the Bayview, with five people inside. When officers approached the car, it then took off trying to outrun the police, a chase ensued, and as most chases do this ended in a crash, at Woolsey and University Streets. No one was injured, and all five people were arrested on suspicion of involvement with the robbery.

Shyy says that three people remain in custody this morning charged with armed robbery and other charges, and two people were released.

And here you thought that all muggings went unsolved.

Cases like this are becoming more common, and a very similar sounding case involving a woman and two armed men robbing another man happened in Stockton just a few weeks ago. It stands to reason, actually, as the phenomenon of quick online hookups has spread from the gay community to the wider heterosexual universe, and apps like Blendr, Tinder, Down, and others are proliferating. (This also could have been a simple, old-timey Craigslist ad, too.)

The moral of the story: No online hookup is ever without its risks. But at least on Tinder and Down (formerly Bang With Friends) you have the Facebook connection to go on...

[BCN/Appeal]
[KTVU]