Police charge 4 in Grindr teen luring trap, including duo who set trap – NJ.com

Two New Jersey residents who posed as a 15-year-old boy on the Grindr app to lure would-be predators provided enough information to police to charge two of the men they confronted in face-to-face meetings, authorities said Monday.

But the duo’s vigilante tactics during those meet-ups also led police to charge them with terroristic threats and criminal restraint, authorities said.

Edison police used the information provided by the duo — a 34-year-old Edison man and a 26-year-old Springfield man — to arrest and charge two of the would-be predators, Deputy Chief Robert Dudash said Monday. A third man is being sought by police.

The two men told police they posed as a 15-year-old boy on the Grindr app and made arrangements to separately meet men at different locations in Edison.

When the would-be predators arrived to two of the meetings, they ordered the men into the back seat of a car for an hour of interrogation that included threats of castration, police said. They also said they would expose the men’s activities on their YouTube channel, police said. A third man fled when confronted at the meeting spot, police said.

Anthony Cotos, 29, of Edison, and Jordan Grundy, 21, of North Plainfield, were arrested and charged with enticing a child and endangering the welfare of a minor, officials said. Both are being held at the Middlesex County jail in North Brunswick ahead of detention hearings.

Cotos fled from the two men before getting in the car to be questioned.

Dudash said a 34-year-old man who posed as a teen filed a report with Edison cops at about 1:50 a.m. on Wednesday and that led to the charges. The man was “more than willing to explain” everything he and the 26-year-old man did in their attempt to catch the would-be predators, according to Dudash.

The detailed information also led police to charge the duo with the third-degree criminal restraint and terroristic threats, a disorderly person offense. NJ Advance Media is not naming the men because of the lesser degree of their charges.

Two other men were charged for attempting to interfere with police when they arrested the 34-year-old. A 38-year-old Highland Park man was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, and a 63-year-old Edison man was charged with obstructing the administration of law and resisting arrest. Both were released after being issued summonses.

Attorney information wasn’t immediately available.

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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com