Instagram Brittany Correri
Brittany Correri, an Atlanta-area woman, has opened up about her terrifying experience online dating after a Wednesday night date turned violent. Correri said she was on a first date with a man called “Ben,” who she’d met on Hinge, and things were going well until the end of the night when he began hitting her repeatedly and eventually pulled a gun on her. The man was identified by the Atlanta Police Department as Benjamin Fancher and he is now wanted for aggravated assault, kidnapping and false imprisonment, according to News19.
Correri first shared her story on Instagram on November 13, posting photos of her bruised face to the platform alongside her account of what happened. She said her date with Fancher was her first time trying online dating: “The night was going normal , having fun until we left our last spot for the night. As soon as we left with no warning he started beating/punching me in my head and face. If I would try to leave the car he would pull me back in by my hair or the hood on my hoodie.”
After hours of being driven around, beaten and held against my will he drew his gun on me and told me that he was going to kill me. At this point I truly thought my life was over. He decided to drag me yet again from the car and by the grace of God there happened to be security on the street and I truly believe she saved MY LIFE.
She said her goal in coming forward with her story was not for “sympathy or attention” but to remind women to be vigilant and to share details of their online dates with someone. The full post is available here:
Atlanta Police Said They Responded to the Scene Early on Thursday Morning & Publicly Identified Fancher on Monday
Correri said the night started smoothly and Fancher met her friends and family before they went out, according to her interview with 11Alive. At the end of their night early on Thursday morning after leaving Hide Lounge, Correri said things became violent.
Correri told the outlet that Fancher said “the date cost too much that I’m not worth that,” as he was beating her. She said when he pulled the gun out, she was sure he was going to kill her. The Atlanta Police Department said in its incident report shared with Heavy that Fancher parked his white BMW in the 1100 block of Howell Mill Road at around 6:30 a.m. on Thursday morning and pulled Correri out of the vehicle by her hair. The incident report also indicated that Fancher had been driving Correri around for about an hour beforehand.
The security guard, Fantasia Atkinson, saw Correri getting dragged out of the vehicle and yelled at Fancher, who got back into his car and left, the police report stated. Atkinson managed to get photos of the vehicle.
Police are looking for Fancher, whose identity was made public on Monday. Atkinson told 11Alive: “We can stop this from happening to someone else. The more that the women re-post his picture and we get it out there, the quicker that we can catch this guy.” Correri also shared the photos of Fancher included on his Hinge dating profile.
Hinge Issued a Statement About the Incident Saying It Is ‘Outraged’ & Will Work With Law Enforcement if Needed
Hinge sent a statement to 11Alive saying it was “outraged” by Correri’s story and pledging to work with law enforcement if needed to find Fancher. The statement reads in part:
The violence she describes is horrible and is something no one should ever have to experience. Our moderators reviewed this report and immediately removed and banned the individual from our community.
We take any incident of assault seriously, and we ban anyone accused of violent behavior from our platform. When a user reports an assault, we quickly follow up with them via email to confirm that the abuser has been removed, share the best way for law enforcement to contact us, and outline advocacy and support resources.
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