Police: Couple arrested after robbing man they met on Tinder, stealing his car

PHOENIX (Arizona’s Family/Gray News) - A couple in Arizona has been arrested after police say they lured a man the woman met on a dating app to rob him and steal his car.

Arizona’s Family reports the man told police that he met a woman named Sonya on the Tinder dating app. He had arranged to meet her at an Embassy Suites hotel near 26th Street and Camelback Road around 10 a.m. on Sept. 17.

When he got to the hotel, he went to her room to find the woman, later identified as 33-year-old Crystal Hulsey, and another man, who was identified as 32-year-old Jose Jaquez.

According to court documents, Jaquez pointed a gun at the man and demanded his cellphone, identification, social media and bank information.

Hulsey and Jaquez allegedly made the man drive them to a nearby Chase Bank and give them $900. After leaving the bank, authorities said Hulsey and Jaquez took off with the man’s car and withdrew an additional $2,100 from his bank account using online apps.

According to court documents, Hulsey and Jaquez took the car to California and Las Vegas, where officers tried to pull them over. However, they escaped police, ditched the car, and got a ride back to Phoenix.

Investigators in the Phoenix area said they were able to track down the couple because they used their real names for the hotel and the withdrawals from the victim’s account. So, they set up an undercover operation to catch them.

Officers said they responded to Hulsey’s escort ad and asked her to meet them at the La Quinta Inn hotel in Phoenix. According to court documents, Hulsey and Jaquez arrived at the hotel but suspected they were being watched and sped away.

Police said the couple drove on the wrong side of the street before their car ran out of gas. However, they hit another driver and stole that vehicle.

Officers said they continued to attempt to pull over Hulsey and Jaquez but were unsuccessful until the couple crashed on the highway.

According to authorities, they were able to take Hulsey and Jaquez into custody on the highway while the couple attempted to carjack another vehicle.

Hulsey and Jaquez were eventually booked into jail on charges of assault, armed robbery with a deadly weapon, robbery and two counts of vehicle theft, police said.