AKRON, Ohio — A series of robberies, including one involving a 70-year-old man, has prompted the Akron Police Department to issue a warning advising residents to stop using an escort website.
That robbery, which happened Monday, is just one in a series of recent incidents involving the website Skipthegames, according to authorities.
Each of the robberies has involved the buyer setting up a meeting with an escort, only to be robbed when the person goes to a prearranged meeting place.
Residents have been confronted by individuals brandishing weapons and threatening them. Police said the robbers should be considered "armed and extremely dangerous."
In the most recent incident involving the 70-year-old man, a man and a woman confronted the older person at knife-point and then forced him to drive to several ATMs to withdraw cash. He managed to escape when the robbers forced him to go inside a store with them.
Skipthegames advertises itself as the "premier place online for consenting adults to find each other and have fun with each other." The website operators claim, on their site, that they will do everything they can to stop people who are underage, or who are using the site for "something non-consensual." The website includes a link for law enforcement to contact them.
News 5 reached out to the operators of the website on Tuesday for comment, and what steps, if any, the company takes to protect the safety of those who use it.
Anyone with any information regarding the robberies is asked to call Akron police detectives at 330-375-2490 or Summit County Crime Stoppers at 330-434-COPS.
RELATED: 70-year-old man robbed in Akron by escort he met online, police say
