Two teenagers robbed and beat two men, fracturing one man’s skull, in Port Washington last Wednesday after the men agreed to meet a girl on a dating app, police said.
One teenager hit the first victim over the head with a baseball bat after he met Amaia Thompson, 16, at 8:30 p.m. on Charles Avenue, police said.
The teen continued to beat the victim with the bat and rob him after he was knocked to the ground, fleeing the scene before police arrived, police said. They said personal property was taken but didn’t say what kind.
The victim was transported to North Shore Plainview Hospital in a private vehicle, and received 60 stitches in his head and was treated for injuries on his body, police said.
A second man, who was contacted by Thompson and met her on Charles Avenue at 10:30 p.m., was hit in the head with a baseball bat and beaten by two teens, police said.
The two teens stole the victim’s cellphone and fled, police said.
The victim was able to walk to Middle Neck Road, where a passer-by called the police.
He was transported to the hospital and treated for a fractured skull, broken nose and other injuries, police said.
Melvin Whitehead, 17, Thompson and a juvenile, 15, who was not identified, were arrested and charged with robbery in the first degree and gang assault in the first degree.
The FBI said it does not collect statistics on dating app crimes.
John Drew, a communication professor at Adelphi University, said crimes involving dating apps is another result of evolving technology.
Drew said he has not heard of many crimes involving dating apps, but said “we are witnessing and will continue to witness the evolution of technology, and with that, we’ll have to deal with the social implications.”
“If you’re a person who wants to rob someone and want to do it in the least suspecting way, one of the new avenues to do that is to lure someone to a place you have control over and that way now includes through dating apps,” Drew said.
Drew said whether the two parties involved in the beating knew each other or not, “I can totally see how this could now be a way for someone to bring another person to a place to jump them.”
