Bloomington man accused of kidnapping, robbing man he met through app

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — A man from Bloomington is accused of robbing, kidnapping, and threatening to kill a man he met through Grindr.

Da’Shaun Brown, 21, faces charges of robbery, kidnapping, and battery. He is a former Indiana University football player.

Bloomington police were called April 6 to investigate a prior robbery at a home in the 2900 block of East Amy Lane. That’s in the Cedargate Apartments, just east of State Road 46.

When officers arrived, a 30-year-old man said he had been robbed earlier that morning by a man, later identified by police as Brown, who he had invited to his apartment for sex.

The victim says that after he and Brown had sex, Brown held a knife to his throat and threatened to kill him if he did not give him all of his money.

When the victim told Brown he only had credit cards, police say Brown covered the victim’s face with a coat, walked him out to Brown’s car, and forced him to get into the back seat.

Brown drove the victim twice to a nearby ATM to try and get cash, according to police.

The victim says Brown then took him back to his apartment, deleted the Grindr app from his phone, and threatened to kill him before leaving.

While reviewing surveillance footage from a nearby bank, police found a vehicle that used the ATM twice early on the morning of April 6.

Officers found the vehicle parked on North Lincoln Street. They spotted a man entering and exiting a house on that street and going to the vehicle used in the robbery.

Police got a search warrant for the vehicle and house. When detectives knocked on the front door, they were greeted by a man who identified himself as Da’Shaun Brown.

Detectives searched Brown’s house and found the clothing worn by the suspect on the night of the robbery. They also found three credit cards with the victim’s name on them.

Brown was arrested and transported to the Monroe County Jail.