Dating is, categorically, stupid: if your date isn't swindling you out of thousands of dollars, then they're probably stealing from you. But it's one thing to use someone for a free meal, and another thing to steal a woman's dog AND her TV in the middle of their first date.
According to The Daily Record of Parsippany, a NJ woman told cops she met "Joel" on a dating website, and went on a first date with him this past Thursday. The woman told officials that Joel was at her house and she became "occupied in another room," leaving him alone for a little bit. When she re-entered the room, Joel was gone, and had taken her Yorkie Violet and her flat-screen TV. The TV is valued at $3,000 and the dog at $4,000. And that doesn't even factor in the emotional cost of deflated pride and hurt feelings, which has got to be worse than a bad credit score.
The woman, whose name hasn't been released, believes Joel might live in Elizabeth, NJ. Joel is described as Hispanic and about 5 feet 9 inches tall. He wore a black hooded jacket, blue jeans and black boots on the date. His vehicle was described as "a gold-colored Mercedes, possibly from 2004 or 2005, with black and beige leather interior and tinted windows." On the bright side...at least he wasn't interested in more than her dog and TV.
Update: Here's a mostly happy ending: the woman told cops that her dog had been tied, by its leash, to the television and left in the front yard of her home sometime yesterday. Cops now know the real identity of "Joel," and charges could still be filed in the incident, pending his cooperation in the case.
