Online Date Holds Massachusetts Man Up By Stun Gun, Steals $100 Worth Of Cash

A Massachusetts man had a stun gun pulled on him and was robbed subsequently Tuesday by a woman he met on an online dating application, authorities said.

The pair was having a rendezvous at a Boston hotel when the incident took place. The unidentified man told police that about half an hour into a conversation, his date held him up by a Taser stun gun, rummaged through his pockets, and stole $100 in cash.

The man escaped the room and alerted hotel security. When officers arrived, the woman initially denied having met the man. She was arrested after cops recovered a pink Taser from her luggage, the Associated Press reported.

The woman was identified as Selena Rivera-Apodaca, 24, of Kent, Washington. She is expected to be arraigned on a charge of armed robbery. It was not known as of Wednesday if she was assigned an attorney.

In June, a man died of an apparent cardiac arrest after officers from the New York Police Department (NYPD) used a stun gun on him. Dispatchers from the 109th Precinct responded to a home in the Whitestone neighborhood after receiving a report about a man armed with a gun. On arrival, officers found George Zapantis, 29, in the basement of the house, dressed as a gladiator, wearing a helmet, and holding a Samurai sword. As opposed to following the officers’ orders to drop the sword, he advanced toward the officers, forcing them to Taser him. His lawyer later said he suffered from bipolar disorder.

Law enforcement has been using Tasers since the mid-1970s to subdue resistant suspects without using a firearm, with reports suggesting that proper use of the tool doesn’t lead to fatal consequences. Complications related to the brain or nervous systems such as loss of consciousness, seizures, abnormal brain activity, and confusion can only occur if a subject is shot at a close distance or directly to the head, the areas officers are asked to avoid. The tool, however, is banned from being used beyond law enforcement in several states in the U.S., including Hawaii, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.