What’s your worst nightmare of going on a date with someone you meet online? Because there’s a good chance it’s exactly what happened to a man in New York City last month.
According to prosecutors, the 24-year-old man met a sexy brunette on Instagram and set up a date on February 7. Per their findings, the young woman, identified by police as Valerie Rosario (seen above), invited the “complete stranger” to her address in the Bronx, and he went — at 1 a.m. btw, so he was definitely expecting a hookup. Instead, what he got was the 22-year-old’s accomplices — three men who showed up right after him, wielding guns which they used to pistol whip him.
According to court docs, Valerie and her crew stripped the man’s clothes off and “placed him in a bathtub, poured flammable substances on him, and burned him with a flame.” In addition to giving the man burns all over his body, they tortured him with a knife, whacking him with the blade “about the legs, back and body.”
All in all, the man endured “multiple hours of torture” before the true purpose of the honeytrap was revealed, according to Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Andrew Kluger. Valerie and company moved the man to another location and used his phone to call his family. Via FaceTime the victim’s brother had to watch as a masked assailant cut into the victim — before demanding ransom!
That’s right. Apparently the crew was drawn to the victim due to his propensity for flashing stacks of cash on the ‘gram. They noted what a good mark he’d be because of the money. The torture was some kind of sadistic bonus. They told his brother:
“Give us one hundred thousand dollars or we will kill him.”
Instead the brother called the cops, which ended up being the right call. Police were able to track down one of the suspects to a location in Queens (it’s unclear how — maybe the cell phone?). Inside a van they found the victim “unconscious, wrapped in a blanket with tape covering his mouth” and “barely breathing” — being watched by a man armed with a knife –identified as Javier Vargas.
The victim was rushed to the hospital and treated for multiple burns and knife wounds.
As for Valerie, she’s facing charges of kidnapping and attempted murder due to the severity of the man’s injuries. Through her defense attorney, she is denying “all the allegations that have been leveled against her.” ADA Kluger successfully requested she be remanded to custody because of the horrifying nature of the crime — as she abducted a stranger and “tortured him for 24 hours.” Vargas and one other accomplice were arrested and are also being held without bail.
Scary stuff! Stay safe out there on the wild blue internet, y’all!
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