DENVER (KDVR) — A Denver-area man said he was attacked while on a date from a dating app.
The man asked not to be identified because he has a daughter, some people close to him do not know his orientation and he’s an undocumented immigrant.
“It was a horrible panic that I experienced,” the man said. He said was on a dating app and planned to meet someone for a night out.
“It was horrible. For a moment I thought my life was over, I wouldn’t exist anymore and I would just be left there,” he said.
Gun pulled, man robbed
The person on the other end of his chat on the app told him to come to an apartment complex in Denver. He arrived and met the man inside a unit toward the back of the complex.
“That’s when he put the gun to my head and told me to lay on the floor without explanation,” he said.
The man said he was insulted for speaking Spanish.
“He said he was going to show me how to respect Americans,” he said.
In utter panic, the man said he was forced to give his cash, his debit and credit cards, any PIN numbers, his email and his cell phone.
“Who would have collected my body or how would they find me? Because I just live with my daughter,” he said.
That is part of the reason the man said he wanted desperately to escape this situation.
Denver law addresses crime reports for undocumented people
He tried to flee, escaping to the laundry at the apartment complex when his attacker beat him and forced him into his car.
“When I opened the door I thought, I don’t care if he shoots me from behind but at least some cameras will see it happen,” he said.
As he ran away, he said he thought he’d be killed, and he yelled in English as he fled.
“I call the police, I call the police now,” he said.
Because of his undocumented status, he said there was some hesitation to report the assault.
Back in 2017, the City of Denver passed an ordinance that made it easier for undocumented immigrants to report crimes to police without fear of deportation.