A 61-year-old Odessa man who was looking for love on a dating app back in April was the victim of a home invasion last month and police have arrested the man’s date and another man in connection with the incident.
According to an Odessa Police Department report, a Beechwood Street resident told police he came home from work around 11 p.m. May 21 and was confronted by two men while he was in the restroom. The men threw a blanket over his head and used duct tape, zip ties, a cargo strap and handcuffs to restrain him on his bed.
The man told officers he was threatened multiple times with a Taser and large knife as the men stole multiple items from his home, along with his Ford F-150 pickup.
According to the report, the man said one of the men had a rose tattoo on his forearm. He thought the other man was “Conzuelo,” a man who dresses as a female who had come over to his house after they met on a dating app more than a month prior.
Detectives knew “Conzuelo” was Jose Manuel Yanez, 36, and when they went to his West Love Drive home on May 23, they found the victim’s pickup truck parked out front, the report stated. Detectives detained Yanez and Russell Vanover, 29, who also lived in the home.
Detectives reported that Vanover, who had a rose tattoo on his forearm, gave them two false names before providing his real name. According to the report, Vanover told detectives “Conzuelo” restrained the victim and stole from the man, but he only gave the victim water to make sure he was OK.
Yanez told detectives Vanover had dropped off the truck and he’d not been in the victim’s home since their date.
Detectives found the victim’s driver’s license and truck keys in Yanez’s purse and a majority of the stolen property in both suspects’ bedrooms and common areas of the house, the report stated.
Vanover was booked into the Ector County jail on suspicion of burglary of a habitation with the intent of committing another felony, failure to identify, possession of a control substance and violating parole. He remained in custody as of Thursday on bonds totaling $132,000.
Yanez was booked on suspicion of burglary of a habitation with intent to commit another felony, possession of a controlled substance and violating parole. He, too, remained in custody Thursday on bonds totaling $130,000.
