“You have an individual that’s trying to take advantage” retired police officer gives tips on safe dating

clay county – Following the Clay County Sheriff’s Office arresting a man accused of robbing people he met on a dating app, News4Jax spoke with a retired police officer about safe dating tips.

Retired Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office police officer James Brown described what 18-year-old Adam Ayers did as someone who was trying to take advantage of others.

Thursday of last week the Clay County Sheriff’s Office posted a photo of a man, whose identify they didn’t know yet and asked for the public’s help identifying them.

According to Deputies the man was 18-year-old Ayers who’s accused of robbing at least three people he met while using the dating app Grindr.

Grindr’s website says they’re the largest social networking app for gay, bi, trans, and queer people.

Deputies said Ayers used different profiles, with the name Larry.

Then he’d arrange to meet victims in a secluded location.

Once the victims arrived, he brandished a firearm and demanded cash from them.

In two incidents, deputies said Ayers forced victims to drive him to an ATM, withdraw cash from their accounts and transfer money to a Cash App Account.

On Saturday in a Facebook Live, Clay County Sheriff Michelle Cook announced Ayers is facing multiple charges.

Those include carjacking while carrying a firearm, kidnapping, armed robbery and aggravated battery.

Ayers arrests highlights the dangers of dating online.

According to the latest data from PEW Research in 2020 17 percent of Lesbian, gay and bisexual adults and seven percent of straight adults say someone on a dating site or app threatened to physically harm them.

During the Sheriff’s Facebook live she also mentioned the investigation is ongoing and her department is asking anybody with more information or if there are more victims to come forward.

Brown said he believes there could be more victims out there, but people might be afraid to speak up because of the connotation surrounding the app.

The potential victims are not as likely to want to report that out of fear of embarrassment or public ridicule,” Brown said.

He also mentioned when people are on dating apps it’s difficult to know who you’re talking to, but it’s important to remain safe.

“Well I would think that the first thing you would want to do is when using an internet dating site is make sure the site has some verification process built into the site that identifies it’s users or members,” Brown said.

He also said other tips people should use when using a dating app is meet the other person in a well populated area and let others know you are going to meet someone.