By day, the sound of the ice cream truck attracts children from throughout the Holabird East apartment complex under the watchful eye of their parents.
"It's a nice neighborhood and everything, but you do get the people that are a little... who you don't trust,” said Michele Wise, “So like I said, it's better to be safe than sorry."
But in early March, a man calling himself "Josh" used a cell phone app called "Grindr" to lure a 22-year old male victim to this same complex with bad intent.
"These apps specifically are for homosexual individuals looking for other homosexual individuals. So it's a social app for homosexuals," said Officer Jennifer Peach with the Baltimore County Police Department.
Police say when the victim showed up, he was surrounded by three men who assaulted him and robbed him of his cash and cell phone.
Later that same month, police believe one of those assailants, 18-year old Paul William James Keve and 21-year old Matthew Austin Bauer pulled off a similar robbery using a mobile dating app for gay men called "Jack'd" here in the 7500 block of Westfield Road in Dundalk.
"What it boils down to is that these two people were looking for easy targets to rob," said Peach.
It is a relatively new, high-tech form of date robbery much like crimes generated through the internet by criminals posing as something they are not, and all the more reason, parents like Michele Wise will remain vigilant when it comes to their own children's safety.
"We've already been told by police officers that there's unsavory people so we just keep them where we can see them,” said Wise, “We walk them to and from school and that way we know they're safe."
Police believe there may be other victims out there, and if you're one of them, you can call Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7LOCKUP.
