In a request for court approval of the arrest and a search warrant, Maloney said he was seeking evidence not just of robbery, extortion and fraud, but also the causing of a bodily injury because of sexual orientation. Some also said Patterson was watching straight porn on their phones at the beginning of their encounters. Several of the victims told authorities they believed Patterson was targeting gay men as a hate crime one specified a homophobic slur he used. It was the 21st time in just over two years that Patterson, 22, had robbed men who saw his profile on Grindr and invited him into their homes or hotel rooms for sex in Los Angeles, West Hollywood and Beverly Hills, according to the government. Within hours, Patterson started draining J.S.'s accounts, making $600 in ATM withdrawals and taking $1,800 by Venmo and $2,000 by Zelle, the agent said. and stole his phone and wallet, FBI agent George Maloney alleged in court papers.
The encounter quickly soured: Patterson threatened to shoot J.S. type in the four-digit passcode - the same passcode J.S. gave him the phone, but he soon suspected Patterson was locking himself out of the device on purpose. Shortly after his arrival, Patterson asked if he could watch porn on J.S.'s mobile phone, according to the FBI. met Derrick Patterson in March on Grinder, the gay sex hookup site, and invited him to his room at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills.
