A man in Arizona was allegedly run over and killed by a woman he met on a dating app after he reportedly told family members he believed he had been “catfished.”
Police say Norris Taft, 52, died after a horrifying hit-and-run incident inside an apartment complex parking lot in Phoenix on May 3.
According to investigators, officers responded to reports of a man being struck by an SUV around 4 p.m.
When police arrived, they found Taft critically injured in the parking lot. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
Authorities say the driver fled the scene.
Three days later, police arrested Mikela Bahe, 30, in connection with the deadly incident.
According to court documents, Taft’s nephew told investigators that Taft had called him earlier that day while on his way to meet a woman he connected with through the dating app MocoSpace.
But things reportedly took a strange turn after the meeting.
The nephew later received text messages from Taft claiming he believed he had been “catfished” because the woman did not look like the photos from the dating app profile.
Despite the awkward situation, Taft reportedly planned to drive the woman back home.
Investigators say the pair stopped at a dispensary before returning to Taft’s apartment complex.
Police believe an argument later broke out between the two.
Surveillance footage reviewed by investigators allegedly showed a woman getting into a dark-colored SUV inside the apartment complex.
Moments later, a man walked in front of the moving vehicle.
According to reports, the SUV struck the man, dragged him underneath the vehicle, and then sped away from the scene.
Authorities later tracked Bahe down after obtaining security footage from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport showing her boarding a shuttle headed toward Flagstaff.
Police say Taft’s SUV still has not been recovered.
Investigators said Bahe admitted she remembered spending time with the victim in Phoenix that day but claimed she could not remember what happened after they left the dispensary.
Even after police showed her surveillance footage, authorities say she continued claiming she could not recall the deadly incident.
Bahe has since been charged with second-degree murder, leaving the scene of a fatal accident, and theft of means of transportation.
She is currently being held in the Maricopa County Jail on a $1 million cash bond as the investigation continues.