DES MOINES, Iowa - Police are charging three Des Moines teens with robbery after they used dating apps to set up and rob victims.
Des Moines police say the robberies happened the week of February 7th and the students, all from the Des Moines area, were arrested at school on Friday.
Investigators say they were able to connect robberies they knew of with new reports to provide enough evidence of the events and make an arrest.
The teens have all been charged with second-degree robbery. They are two 16-year-old boys and one 17-year-old boy. The apps they were using to contact their victims were Grindr and MeetMe.
Des Moines Police are now urging the public to only make contact with people they meet online at a populated, public location, such as a restaurant. They're also advising individuals to bring another person with them to any in-person meeting.