GoButler just raised $8 million in financing from Ashton Kutcher and other tech investors.
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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 of Australian designer Sean Satha, also had nothing to do with the alleged fraud. Bratton said 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.
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 thens find 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.
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