Copyright M Live Michigan
BAY CITY, MI — A man went to a vacant Bay City house planning to pay a younger woman for sex, according to police. Instead, he ended up getting robbed of his cellphone, cash, and car. Just a few days later, police spotted the stolen car being driven by the alleged sex worker. Now, she and the man who allegedly committed the robbery are facing criminal charges. About 1:10 p.m. on Oct. 21, police responded to the parking lot of Trahan Funeral Home after a 43-year-old Saginaw man called 911 to say he’d just been robbed. The man told officers that for the past month, he’d been having sex with Lauren K. Dill, whom he’d met on Facebook. Dill typically charged him $100 for sex, he added. Earlier that day, Dill invited him to meet up with her at 243 N. Monroe St., he told police. Dill asked him to bring “something to smoke,” he told police. The man arrived at the house and though it appeared abandoned, he went inside with Dill, he said. They were sitting on furniture in the living room, smoking marijuana, when a second man suddenly appeared, the victim told police. This second man pulled a gun from under a sofa, pointed it at the seated man, and said he was going to kill him, the victim told police. The victim gave the gunman his iPhone 16, keys, and wallet containing $100 in cash, he said. The gunman handed the keys to Dill and told her to start the victim’s blue 2006 Chevrolet Malibu, parked outside. Dill did as she was told, the victim told police. The gunman told the victim to stay inside until he left, then exited the house. The victim looked outside and saw Dill driving away his car, the gunman riding in the passenger seat, he told police. The victim walked to a nearby business and used a bystander’s phone to call his daughter to pick him up, he said. Police tried pinging the man’s cellphone, to no avail. They also notified city Code Enforcement personnel to secure the empty house. The victim later told police Dill had asked him to bring her heroin. He admitted to bringing her crack cocaine, which they smoked together in the Monroe Street house, he said. They were there for about an hour before the second man appeared. The victim speculated he’d been in the basement the entire time. “He pulled the gun and got really mad because I only had the two crack rocks,” the man told police. “He thought I was supposed to be bringing more than that.” Police on the afternoon of Oct. 23 spotted the Malibu driving through Bay City’s South End and pulled it over. Dill was behind the wheel, with a 36-year-old male passenger. Police arrested Dill. Her purse contained the victim’s driver’s license, reports state. Dill agreed to answer officers’ questions on being read her Miranda rights. She initially said the Malibu belonged to a friend and she was using it with his permission, reports state. She later said she agreed to meet the 43-year-old man and have sex with him in exchange for drugs and money. She said the second man entered and robbed the victim, though she did not participate, apart from driving the Malibu at the robber’s direction. She denied the robber used a gun, reports state. Dill eventually identified the robber as 37-year-old Rodney L. Spencer. Police on the afternoon of Oct. 27 spotted Spencer walking in downtown Bay City and detained him. Read his Miranda rights, Spencer said Dill contacted him about her plan to meet up with the other man for sex. Spencer said they planned to record video footage of the man saying he wanted to pay her for sex, then take his cash and drugs. Spencer was waiting outside the Monroe Street house when Dill and the other man arrived, he told police. Once Dill recorded incriminating video of the man, Spencer entered the house, he said. “I explained to him that trying to have sex with this girl for drugs is not cool and he can get in trouble for that,” Spencer told police. He and Dill then proceeded to take the man’s property, he said. Spencer sold the iPhone and gave Dill $100 from it. Dill took the man’s drugs, Spencer said. He denied there was a gun involved. Spencer has since been charged with a life offense of armed robbery, while Dill is charged with unlawfully driving away a motor vehicle and accessory after the fact to a felony. They are to appear for a preliminary examination on Wednesday, Nov. 12.
