A casual Instagram message turned into a frightening experience for a Miami man on April 11, causing authorities to issue a public request.
The victim reportedly responded to a woman’s DM inviting him over for drinks at her apartment.
What began as a friendly interaction quickly escalated into a robbery, leading him to seek law enforcement.
Highlights
- A Miami man being robbed by a woman in an organized setup left authorities issuing a public request.
- Netizens reacted lightheartedly to the case, focusing on the suspect’s mugshot.
- Another case of a Miami woman robbing men after meeting them at bars made headlines earlier this year.
The woman in the case has since been identified as 30-year-old Nicole Cano.
A Miami man was victimized by a woman after accepting her drink invitation
Image credits: Miami-Dade Police Department
Cano and the victim knew each other, having “previously met via Instagram,” according to case documents viewed by multi-platform media network Law & Crime.
Cano reached out to the victim at about noon on the day she committed the offense.
The pair exchanged “several messages,” police claimed, before eventually agreeing to meet at her affluent Paraiso Bayviews condo.
The victim arrived at the location at around 6:15 pm.
Image credits: Paraiso Bayviews
“All three females acted in concert and began demanding money from him,” the complaint read.
The victim informed them he did not have cash on him, which led the trio to prevent him from exiting the apartment.
An altercation ensued between him and the women.
While locked in the conflict, the women stated that “he was going to pay, and his chain was forcibly pulled from his neck.”
The man managed to maintain possession of the chain, but his “gold cross pendant,” valued at $300, was taken.
Following this, according to the complaint, “the victim was able to open the door and exit the apartment while screaming for help.”
On May 1, the man was shown a “six-photo lineup” that included Cano, and he “positively identified” her as his attacker.
Cano was detained on May 4 at her condo complex and taken to police headquarters for questioning.
Cano was informed of her right to remain silent, but she waived it and agreed to speak without an attorney present
Image credits: Brett Jordan/Unsplash (Not the actual photo)
Cano “admitted that she had initiated the meeting with the victim but denied her involvement in the robbery.”
She was subsequently arrested and booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. She faces charges of strong-armed robbery and false imprisonment.
According to Sammi’s Law Firm, strong-armed robbery is punishable by up to 15 years in prison in Florida. False imprisonment is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
On May 5, Cano was appointed a public defender and entered a not guilty plea.
It is unclear if police have identified the two other suspects.
Image credits: Google Maps
“We ask anybody who has information or who is also a victim of this female or of any other to please contact the City of Miami Police Department and give us that information,” Officer Michael Vega said.
Social media reaction to the case has been lighthearted, with most users fixating on Cano’s mugshot.
In her post-arrest photo released by the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Center, Cano is seen with her blonde hair worn loose and a visibly swollen lip.
Many on Facebook refused to believe Cano was a woman, with one saying, “That’s got to be a dude.”
Others, meanwhile, accused the victim of not being able to “resist those lips.”
Another Miami woman made headlines earlier this year for robbing men
Image credits: Miami-Dade Police Department
Sarah Tavano, 39, was arrested on January 18 on charges including strong-arm robbery, organized fraud, grand theft, and burglary of an occupied dwelling, according to NBC Miami.
Police complaints reveal she d**gged multiple men she met at Miami bars before stealing thousands of dollars in cash and items from them.
The charges stemmed from at least three alleged incidents dating back to October 2025.
In one incident, a man said he met a woman at Blackbird but did not remember bringing her back to his apartment on Southwest 7th Street.
Image credits: CBS Miami
Hours later, he found several valuables missing from his home, including Louis Vuitton handbags and wallets, bags from Alexander McQueen, Valentino, Versace, Gucci, and Saint Laurent, and various gold and diamond jewelry.
Fingerprints left behind at the apartment confirmed Tavano’s involvement in the case.
In a second incident from December, Tavano allegedly met a man at El Patio Wynwood and went back to his hotel room on Brickell Bay Drive.
The man told investigators he blacked out and didn’t wake up for several hours, but when he did, the woman was gone along with his wallet, credit cards, identifying documents, and iPhone.
He discovered unauthorized transactions on his financial accounts totaling $414,000, including wire transfers, Zelle and CashApp transactions, and a fraudulent Venmo transaction to a shoe store for approximately $20,000.
In a third case, also from December, a man said he met a woman at Sugar nightclub in Brickell and brought her back to his hotel room.
He claimed he had a drink, which caused him to lose consciousness immediately upon their arrival. Upon waking up, he found his Rolex watch, worth $38,000, and $1,500 in cash missing.
At the time of her detention, Tavano was in possession of a bag of white powder, a plastic cup with four pills, and a bottle of Jägermeister containing a cloudy liquid with visible powder residue settled at the bottom.
"She lured him to her house? She should get life in prison just for being so stupid," a netizen said about Cano
