CLEVELAND — A man was carjacked on Cleveland’s East Side Saturday night after he was apparently catfished by an Instagram user who went by the name “Veronica Steele.”
On Jan. 12, a man told police at the Third District front desk that he had his car taken from him at gunpoint, according to a Cleveland police report.
The man told police he had been talking to what he believed was a female on Instagram named Veronica Steele, and they arranged to meet at East 70th Street and Cedar Avenue around 9:30 p.m. He arrived at that location, got out of his car and stood outside to wait for Veronica to show up.
While he was outside his vehicle, an unknown man came up from behind and pressed what he believed to be a gun to his back, the report states. The unknown man told the victim to “Give me your keys.” The victim gave the man his keys, and the man drove off in the car in an unknown direction.
The victim described the man as about 5 feet 9 inches tall and 190 pounds in weight. He said he was only able to see the back of the man, and said he was wearing dark clothing.
The victim said he tried to contact Veronica Steele after the incident, but the Instagram account had been deleted. The victim said he believes it was a fake account that someone had created to lure him to the area and take his car.
The victim was unable to provide any other suspect details or information about the incident.
