Last week, retired tennis star James Blake was tackled by a plainclothes New York City police officer who mistook Blake for a suspect in a three-man credit card fraud ring. The NYPD said the individual who identified Blake as the suspect — pointing to him from eight feet away — was a courier for GoButler, an on-demand app that recently raised $8 million from Ashton Kutcher and other tech investors. A sting was set up after the virtual-assistant startup complained to the NYPD about suspicious behavior and agreed to help identify the fraudsters, who were observed during previous deliveries where the suspects used allegedly fraudulent credit cards.
The NYPD asked to "supervise a delivery" if the trio made another purchase. When the suspects ordered designer shoes via GoButler delivered to the concierge desk at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan, a team of undercover officers accompanied the courier. Blake was staying at the hotel and standing outside waiting for a car to take him to the U.S. Open when he was body-slammed by Officer James Frascatore. The NYPD claims that Blake was mistaken for one of the suspects during the sting based on a photo provided by GoButler and the courier's incorrect identification.
The NYPD released a video of the arrest, in which you can see Officer Frascatore run at Blake from off-camera. Robert Boyce, the NYPD's chief detective, told the New York Times that one of the suspects met the courier and was arrested immediately. Then the courier "pointed to Mr. Blake from eight feet away" as another member of the fraud ring, said Boyce. The second suspect was later arrested inside the hotel.
In a news conference on Thursday, Police Commissioner William Bratton apologized to Blake "on behalf of the city of New York." At the same conference, Boyce said GoButler gave the NYPD an Instagram photo from a social media account of someone who was thought to be one of the suspects. But the man in the photo, who was later revealed to be Australian designer Sean Satha, also had nothing to do with the alleged fraud. Bratton said that based on that Instagram photo, the suspect and Blake "look like twins," prompting further uproar about racial profiling.
Officer Frascatore, who was put on modified duty and is currently under investigation, is ultimately responsible for the use of force that set off the latest tide of public outrage over police brutality. However, despite comments from the NYPD that its team of officers was "relying on" the courier, GoButler released an official statement disavowing all responsibility for misidentifying Blake, along with a quasi plug for its stress-free services.
GoButler says it "did not contribute to misidentifying James Blake" and blamed the NYPD:
The police identified Blake as an individual who looked similar to one of the social media profiles used to purchase items via GoButler. ... While GoButler did not contribute to misidentifying James Blake, we are working to contact him to offer our network of services across the country to eliminate any stress during his future travels.
In response to questions from BuzzFeed News, spokeswoman Bianca McLaren said: "I want to reiterate that GoButler had no role in misidentifying James Blake. This was an isolated incident and the NYPD arrested two people in connection to the alleged fraud."
The suspects, Jarmaine Grey and James Short, were arraigned in criminal court on Thursday. According to the criminal complaint (below) from the Manhattan District Attorney's office, the defendants allegedly used American Express cards to fraudulently purchase Cristal champagne, an iPhone 6, three iPhones worth $2,446.42, and a Louis Vuitton bag, as well as clothing purchases from TaskRabbit and a food order to Five Guys burgers, among other items through GoButler.
Customers use the 24-hour service to text their requests to an operator (the company calls them "heroes") who then finds the outside service providers, like other delivery services, to do the job at no additional charge. The complaint says that the informant who reported the fraud was "an employee" of GoButler. The company would not say whether the courier was an employee or a contractor.
The New York-based company is often referred to as a clone of Magic, a West Coast rival.
GoButler's $8 million funding round, announced in June, was led by General Catalyst Partners, which has also invested in Snapchat and Airbnb. Guy Oseary's Sound Ventures and Slow Ventures, a venture capital firm made up of ex-Facebook executives, also participated.
BuzzFeed News has reached out to the NYPD and will update the post if we hear back.
Here is GoButler's entire official statement:
GoButler takes user security seriously and we regularly review purchases for patterns that might suggest fraud or criminal activity. Two weeks ago, our Quality team became aware of suspicious purchases, notified the NYPD, and complied with their requests thereafter. The police identified Blake as an individual who looked similar to one of the social media profiles used to purchase items via GoButler.
Our primary objective is to keep GoButler a safe and secure service while retaining our users' trust. While GoButler did not contribute to misidentifying James Blake, we are working to contact him to offer our network of services across the country to eliminate any stress during his future travels.
Here is the criminal complaint provided by the Manhattan District Attorney's office:
Deponent states that deponent is informed by a person known to the District Attorney's Office, that informant is an employee of a company GoButler, which is headquartered in new York County. Informant states that GoButler is a company that makes deliveries to individuals to 32 Gansevoort, New York, NY.
Informant further states that GoButler believed one of its accounts was used to commit fraud. Informant described that the account activity began on September 2, 2015, an order was placed for a bottle of Crystal champagne. Informant further states that the first American Express card used to pay for the champagne was denied, and a second credit card was provided. Informant states that the Crystal was $275.
Informant further states that later on September 2, 2015, there was another purchased of suitcases from Bed, Bath, & Beyond worth $210. On September 3, 2015, there was an order, using the same credit card, to make a purchase of an iPhone 6. The card was declined after an attempt to purchase a Louis Vuitton bag.
Informant states that after the first American Express card was declined on September 3, 2015, there was a change of credit card and another attempt to purchase a Louis Vuitton bag. That card was also declined.
On September 3, 2015, another American Express card was used to purchase a Louis Vuitton bag. That bag was valued at $1991.20. On September 4, 2015, another order was placed with the same credit card for three iPhones worth $2446.42. The card was declined. On September 4, 2015, another American Express card was given to pay for the three iPhones.
On September 6, 2015, another American Express card was used to purchase Chinese food. That charge was for $202.21. There were also two purchases of clothing from Task Rabbit. On September 7, 2015, the same card was used attempted to make purchases at Five Guys, but was declined. Another American Express card was substituted and a charge of $56 occurred.
On September 7, 2015, another American Express card was used to purchase shoes from Barneys. That card was declined and another American Express card was substituted. That charge was for $2580.
I have spoken with an employee of American Express and provide them with all nine of the above-described credit card numbers. American Express has confirmed that all of the cards were used fraudulently and that the total amount of the fraud is more than $8000.
On September 3, 2015, at the delivery of the Louis Vuitton bag, informant observed three individuals. Informant gave the Louis Vuitton bag to defendant Jarmaine Grey and observed defendant James Short accompanying Jarmaine Grey.
On September 4, 2015, at the delivery of the three iPhones, a second informant delivered the phones to defendant Jarmaine Grey and again observed defendant James Short and an unidentified other accompanying Jarmaine Grey.