Florida Officers Nab Suspect in String of Grindr Robberies
Authorities in Clay County, Florida, have apprehended an 18-year-old suspect who used multiple Grindr profiles to lure gay men and rob them at gunpoint.
Adam Tyler Ayers, Jr. was taken into custody by the Clay County Sheriff's Office and is now being held on a bond of $350,000, according to local news station CBS47.
Ayers is suspected of carrying out multiple robberies across a three-week period, the news channel reported, with three known incidents targeting gay men who were lured to "an isolated location" where they were forced at gunpoint to surrender cash. "All the incidents happened in the dark either early morning or late at night," the news station noted.
"CCSO says in two of the incidents, the suspects forced the victims to drive to an atm and withdraw cash from their accounts," the report added.
Speaking with performer and equality activist Karissa Wade, the news channel heard that such targeted attacks are "infuriating," and an additional burden for a community already besieged with a record-breaking flurry of punitive legislation, not to mention street-level violence.
"It's something that you would have to deal with, from the Pulse shootings to the abuses to the beat downs," Wade said, before adding, "everything that the community has had to suffer, is suffered through so much turmoil already, that now we're being victimized again in a different way."
The channel's own "law and safety expert" advised the public to follow precautions when using apps like Grindr, including meeting strangers in public places, not providing them with phone numbers or other personal information, and being aware that profiles — including photos — can be faked.
Reports of criminals using Grindr to target gay men have come to light over the years, including more serious crimes such as murder. In a case from 2020, a Louisiana man named Chance Seneca attempted to murder an 18-year-old victim named Holden White after inviting White to his house, where Seneca choked White, stabbed him multiple times, and nearly amputated his hands with deep gashes to both wrists.
Authorities in the case claimed that Seneca planned to dismember White.
White survived the attack, needing a month of hospitalization and rehab. Hate crimes charges were eventually brought against Seneca.
In the Florida case, Ayers "is being charged with Carjacking while carrying a firearm or other deadly weapon," CBS47 reported.