After matching with a guy who seemed normal enough, TikToker Caitlin Murphy (@caitlin_linnea) found herself in danger.
She matched with a guy named John Tyler on the dating app Tinder, and they talked for a couple of days. Then, she went to his house in Tampa, Florida, where he lived with his aunt and uncle.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, he got way too drunk and started putting his hands on her. He kept hitting, smacking, and punching her. He even put her in a chokehold and wrestled her to the ground.
At one point, she somehow managed to break free from his grip and run out of the house. She was on the phone with her parents at the time, but he grabbed the phone out of her hands and threw it away from her. Her parents called the cops at around 5 a.m.
When the police showed up, she was hysterical from being assaulted. He ran from the police because it turned out he had previous battery charges.
Caitlin was taken to the hospital with both physical and emotional trauma.
The back of her knee was torn, her knee was dislocated, and her tibia was fractured from trying to run away. She ultimately deleted all her dating apps and learned a very valuable lesson about trust and safety. She will never meet a strange man alone again.
The police caught him an hour later. In total, he had five charges against him: one battery charge for what he did to Caitlin and previous domestic violence charges. He is currently still in jail.
Sadly, several other women have experienced violence from men. They were able to share their stories in the comments section, reassuring Caitlin that she was not alone in this.
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“Girl, yes!!! I almost had a Tinder date [almost] actually murder me and put me in the ICU for seven days!! Tinder needs to be doing a background check or something because these men shouldn’t be allowed on those apps!!!” exclaimed one user.
“Similar situation. Met a guy off Tinder at [a] public place and [it] went well. Next evening, I invited him over. He brought whiskey, and I don’t drink. He got so drunk that he was scaring my dog. I had to ask him to leave multiple times and made him leave drunk. He had a handgun, too. I was absolutely terrified,” wrote another.
“A boy has also physically assaulted me in the leg area because he was abusive (broke 4 bones in my ankle and dislocated it), so I understand where you are right now,” chimed in a third.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
