Authorities say they’ve finally caught up to a woman who used a dating app to attract a Broward man into what turned out to be a violent home invasion.
The man’s roommate ended up being shot twice, and authorities were searching for nearly a year for 25-year-old Barbara Reyes, whom they now have in custody.
Reyes somehow was able to avoid being captured since last May, but the Broward Sheriff's Office caught up with her Wednesday, arresting her on charges of armed invasion robbery and two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm.
Reyes appeared in bond court Thursday over a video hookup inside the Broward jail. She was ordered held without bond.
In May 2020, police rushed to the Miramar home of a man who told them he had been in touch with Reyes over a dating app, and thinking she was coming for romance, at 3 a.m. gave her access past the security gate and into his development.
A short time later, police say the man was being beaten, his roommate had been shot twice, and the pair had been robbed by two men hiding in the vehicle Reyes was in. Police say the home invaders made off with an iPhone, computer equipment and cash.
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Police quickly caught up to one of the men who was allegedly involved, but Reyes avoided capture until this week.
The message from Miramar Police shortly after the incident still stands.
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"We caution everyone to just be careful out there. You may just want to hook up, but unfortunately we have seen this where you may just want to have a lot of fun and it ends up being much more than that," police spokesperson Tania Ruiz said.
