MIAMI – Miami police say a Georgia woman drugged a man whom she met at a Wynwood nightclub before stealing more than $25,000 in valuables from his apartment — the latest in a string of similar thefts across South Florida.
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Bianca Thorpe, 26, of Grovetown, Georgia, was arrested Wednesday after detectives said they tracked a Dodge Durango linked to the theft to a northwest Miami-Dade address.
The vehicle matched the license plate information provided by the victim, who said he paid for the suspects’ parking earlier that night using a mobile app, according to Thorpe’s arrest report.
The incident began in the early morning hours of June 11, when the victim met Thorpe and another woman at Coco Night Club, located at 8 NE 41st St., the report stated.
Investigators said that the trio later stopped at a Jamaican restaurant in northwest Miami-Dade to pick up food before heading to the victim’s apartment near the 200 block of 14th Street.
Shortly after arriving, the victim told officers he briefly stepped away to retrieve his bed sheets from the dryer.
During that time, police said he took a sip of Brisk iced tea and “began experiencing abnormal fatigue, a headache and sudden drowsiness.”
Believing both women had fallen asleep on his living room couch, police said the victim went to bed.
But when he woke around 10:30 a.m., the women were gone and his apartment had been ransacked, the report stated.
Police said missing items included a Rolex watch, a Cuban link chain, an iPhone, cologne bottles, bank cards, his ID and a Ring doorbell camera. The total loss was estimated at $25,350, according to the report.
Detectives said they used surveillance footage from the club to identify Thorpe, who could be seen dancing with the victim and had a distinctive tattoo on her neck.
When officers located the Durango parked near the 700 block of Northwest 103rd Street, they matched the tattoo and facial features from the video footage to Thorpe.
When approached by a detective, Thorpe requested a lawyer and was not interviewed further.
According to police, the women entered the victim’s apartment under false pretenses with the intent to incapacitate and rob him.
Local 10 News has reported extensively on similar cases involving suspects who allegedly drugged and robbed men of Rolex watches and other luxury goods after meeting them in nightlife districts like Wynwood, Brickell, and South Beach.
In recent months, suspects from as far as California, New York and Las Vegas have been arrested in connection with such thefts.
Jail records show Thorpe is facing one count of burglary of an occupied dwelling and one count of second-degree grand theft between $20,000 and $100,000.
As of Friday, she is being held on a $7,500 bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
