A Florida woman attempted to extort $500 from a married man she spotted at the bar by threatening to upend his marriage, police said.
Police arrested and charged Briyana Andrea Valls, 22, with grand theft and extortion for allegedly threatening the man via text message while he was out with friends at the Big Dawgs Sports Bar in Pembroke, WPLG reported.
Police said the victim enjoyed a few drinks at the bar and left his cell phone unattended on a table.
When he got back home, the man received several text messages from an unfamiliar phone number. The messages demanded that he use a mobile payment service to pay $300 to a woman named Briyana Valls, an arrest report states.
A separate message warned the victim to pay the $300 or Valls would tell his wife he was cheating on her, police said.
“This gentleman didn’t have any idea who this girl was,” Sgt. Mark Leone said.
The following morning, the victim reported the incident to the Davie Police Department and handed over the threatening text messages to detectives. Investigators then helped arrange a controlled meeting between the victim and the mysterious person behind the text messages—who turned out to be Valls, the Daily Mail reported.
At the meeting, the victim handed her an envelope containing $500 shortly before authorities arrested Valls.
Valls admitted to authorities during questioning that she had been trying to bilk $500 out of her victim to pay for her sick brother’s medical bills, police said.
Valls is being held on $5,000 in the Broward County Jail, according to court records obtained by the Sun Sentinel.
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