Thugs target stripper who posted lavish lifestyle online, allegedly rob her TWICE before getting nabbed

A pair of robbers have been arrested in New York City after brazenly breaking into the home of an exotic dancer — not once, but twice — and holding her, her husband, and their two children at gunpoint.

After spotting a stripper’s social media posts and seeing the lavish life she leads, Romel Catoe, 32, and Mathew Sanchez, 29, allegedly planted tracking devices on the dancer’s car and broke into her Queens, N.Y., home, zip-tying the husband and aiming a gun at the two children, the Daily Mail reports. The dancer was in the Dominican Republic at the time of the invasion.

Nine days later, after the dancer had returned home, the thugs stormed into the apartment again, this time tying both her and her husband up in the bathroom. As they turned the apartment upside-down, one of the dancer’s children managed to dial 911.

Though the robbers reportedly made off with $79,000 in cash — no joke, it was mostly in singles — and a stash of Hermes and Christian Dior handbags worth about a hundred grand, they forgot one of their phones as they rushed out of the apartment.

A portion of the money stolen reportedly belonged to a friend of the family’s — another exotic dancer.

The robbers took the loot from the two heists to Philadelphia, where they allegedly exchanged all those small bills for larger ones at a local bank.

But, with phone in hand, NYPD was able to hunt the duo down and charge them with robbery conspiracy, robbery, money laundering conspiracy, and conspiracy to receive stolen property.


The attacks occurred on January 27 and February 3 of last year, and a text from Catoe to Sanchez reveals the robbers discussed whether or not they should make their moves when the kids were home or wait. Catoe, it appears, was unconcerned with the presence of children.

“IDC,” Catoe texted, slang for “I don’t care.”

“I’m ready thou like I’m ready ready,” he texted Sanchez. “Are we getting this?”

And off they went to the dancer’s home.

What they didn’t realize was, as they were “getting” designer bags, a recording device was “getting” the entire crime on film.

Police released footage of the terrifying incident on Friday.

In it, the husband can be seen laying on the floor, a gun pointed at his back, as his hands are zip-tied.

According to police, the idea to rob the dancer came after the thieves came across her social media page and that of her stripper pal. Upon seeing the girls showing off wads of cash, loads of bling, and a bunch of expensive bags, they planned their attacks.

It’s a lesson more young women need to learn, especially in New York City, where violent crime has reached record levels.

“Catoe was arrested Thursday in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and detained by a Pennsylvania magistrate,” the Daily News reports. “Sanchez was already serving a state drug conviction sentence in Oklahoma. Both are expected in Brooklyn Federal Court at a future date.”

Melissa Fine

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