Police investigating after two men allegedly lured to locations via dating app and assaulted

ABC NEWS (Australia)

ACT police are investigating two alleged gang attacks on gay men in Canberra. It's alleged the men were lured to meeting up with their attacks by fake profiles on the dating app, 'grindr'.

Transcript

00:00These are two separate incidents, but police allege their circumstances are almost exactly

00:08the same.

00:09In both cases, it's alleged the men had arranged to meet up with a match from the dating app

00:13Grindr.

00:14Police now say they believe those profiles were fake and were actually an attempt to

00:19lure victims to certain addresses.

00:22In the first incident, the alleged victim had agreed to meet a man last Tuesday morning

00:26at a home on Ada Norris Avenue in Denman Prospect.

00:30When he arrived, he was attacked by a group of four men.

00:34He allegedly managed to escape on his motorbike, but police say his helmet and gloves were

00:39stolen by the alleged offenders.

00:42The second incident happened when the alleged victim had agreed to meet a man at a reportedly

00:47empty house on Investigator Street in Red Hill in the early hours of Saturday morning.

00:52Here, he was allegedly bashed by a group of seven or eight men who shouted homophobic

00:57slurs at him, demanded money and attempted to take his wallet and keys.

01:03The man fled in his car, but the group allegedly followed him and continued the assault, damaging

01:08his car.

01:09He took himself to hospital later that day.

01:12Over the weekend, Camerons have been sharing warnings about the incidents on social media,

01:17urging alleged victims to report them.

01:20At this stage, police suspect the incidents were targeted and they're also considering

01:25whether they're linked.

01:26They're also urging people who use dating apps to meet up in public when they're meeting

01:31for the first time.

01:32Anyone who might have witnessed the incident or experienced a similar incident themselves

01:37is being urged to contact police.

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