At least, that’s what happened when a 26-year-old man from Winterton agreed to meet a 30-year-old woman from Carbonear early Tuesday morning on what would be their first date.
The couple drove to a park moments after he picked her up and that’s when things took a turn for the worse.
Allegedly, a trio of men approached the vehicle brandishing a weapon and demanding money and belongings from the victim. They got what they were looking for and also stole the man’s car.
The man managed to get away from his attackers and reported the incident to police at approximately 1 a.m. that morning. He was not injured in the crime.
“He was shaken and he was upset,” Harbour Grace RCMP spokesman Cpl. Brent Hillier said when asked how the victim was doing. “He feared for her safety.”
At this point, the Harbour Grace detachment called in help from nearby detachments in Bay Roberts and Holyrood, as well as police dog services.
Initially, the female was believed to be a victim as well. While he was talking to police, the Winterton man kept receiving text messages asking for an undisclosed amount of money
Coincidentally, that’s how police were able to track the suspects.
“We were pinging the cell phone because texts were coming back and forth,” said Hillier.
Police found the car a short while after on a dirt road in Carbonear.
“Two individuals were hiding in the woods, two were not there and the weapon used was there,” said Hillier.
Through the course of the investigation, police later believed the female was not a victim and had lured her date to the park in order to rob him.
“We were able to determine that she had conspired with the other three individuals for this to have happened,” Hillier noted.
Four people were arrested in connection to the incident. Along with the woman, an 18-year-old man, a 33-year-old man and a 15-year-old youth are also in custody.
They face identical charges of armed robbery, extortion, assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. There is also the possibility of police laying an additional charge of conspiracy on all four individuals.
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It’s been a busy couple of days for the Harbour Grace police. It’s their second armed robbery in as many days.
On Sunday, a Harbour Grace man held up a gas station in a brazen daylight robbery.
“I haven’t seen an armed robbery like this before,” said Hillier referring to the Tuesday crime.
They are expected to appear at provincial court in Harbour Grace Thursday at 9:30 a.m.
