Man expecting to meet date robbed by 3 fake cops

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office wants the public’s help finding three supsects who posed as undercover cops and robbed a man.

Deputies say, just before 7 p.m. on Wednesday, the man had made arrangements on a dating app to meet a woman at the Sevilla Plaza shopping center on West Irlo Bronson Highway.  As the man walked out of a store in the plaza though, security cameras caught him being quickly approached by a man in street clothes with a gun drawn, and then two other men a short time later.

“[They] identified themselves as law enforcement officers,” said Osceola County Sheriff’s Major Jacob Ruiz.

Ruiz said the men were very much not cops but officers do believe they were the ones messaging with the victim through the dating app.  The men told the victim he was under arrest and walked him away from the entrance to the store.

Deputies say he complied with their directions including when the 3 men ordered him to take them back to his hotel.  There, Ruiz said the men stole money and property from the victim.

Anyone who has any information about the three men in the video are asked to call the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office or Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS (8477).