Woman assaulted, robbed after agreeing to meet Instagram acquaintance; teen arrested, records show

Affidavit: Suspects stole victim’s purse and then went to her home to steal her car

Valyne Cortez has been charged with aggravated robbery, records with the Bexar County Jail show. (Bexar County Jail)

SAN ANTONIO – One person was arrested and another is at large after a woman was assaulted and robbed while meeting an Instagram acquaintance, records with the Bexar County Jail show.

Valyne Cortez, 18, was charged with aggravated robbery after she allegedly attacked the woman in a car on June 22, according to records.

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On that day, a 19-year-old woman agreed to meet a 19-year-old man, identified as Josiah Rodriguez, who reached out to her on Instagram, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

The woman didn’t give the man her address and instead walked to an intersection in her neighborhood, where she met him and got inside his vehicle, she told police.

While inside the vehicle, she was attacked by two women, including Cortez, who began to hit her and pull her hair, police said. They pulled her into the backseat, and the victim tried to fight back.

The victim hit one of the women repeatedly and Rodriguez stopped the car, exited and opened a backseat door. The victim pushed one of the women out of the car, and she realized one of them had a stun gun.

The victim told police that Rodriguez pulled out a handgun, fired three shots and then pointed the gun at her, according to the affidavit.

The victim ran to retrieve her purse and other belongings from the front seat of the car, but fearing for her safety, let go of the car door. The suspects fled in the vehicle, police said.

The 19-year-old woman told police that a few hours later, the suspects went to her house and stole her car because they had the keys and knew her address from cards in her wallet.

They also took cash from her bank accounts, she told police.

Investigators searched the Instagram account of the male suspect and found that one image showed a letter with his birth date. The birth date seen in the photo helped investigators identify him.

Six days after the aggravated robbery, both Rodriguez and Cortez were involved in an accident, police said. In that incident, they were in a stolen vehicle and Rodriguez ran from officers, police said.

The affidavit did not say if that stolen vehicle was the same one taken from the 19-year-old’s home.

A warrant for Cortez’s arrest in the aggravated robbery case was issued on July 22, records show. She was taken into custody on Monday and her bond is set at $75,000.

Rodriguez has not been arrested in connection with the aggravated robbery, but he is listed as a suspect in the affidavit. The other woman accused of assaulting the victim was not named in the affidavit.

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