Background: The InterContinental hotel located on Chopin Plaza in Miami, Florida (Google Maps). Inset: Sarah Jean Tavano (Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation).
A Florida woman is accused of luring men back to their hotel rooms with the promise of intimacy, only to drug and rob them before making her escape.
Sarah Jean Tavano, 39, is facing multiple charges, including strong-arm robbery, organized fraud, second-degree grand theft, and burglary. She has been held by the Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation since her arrest on Sunday.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, on December 12, a man was left alone at a table at the Sugar nightclub in Miami after his friends had departed. A woman approached him, dressed in a black shirt, blue jeans, and black flip-flops. After interacting with him on more than one occasion, she reportedly “agreed to accompany him back to his hotel room for what he believed would be consensual sexual activity.”
The woman, who authorities allege is Tavano, accompanied the man to his room at the InterContinental hotel on Chopin Plaza, located along Miami’s waterfront. After sharing a drink with her, the man began to feel unwell, experiencing symptoms such as nausea, weakness, and dizziness, before eventually losing consciousness, as per the affidavit.
He reported regaining consciousness at approximately 7:25 a.m. on December 13. Upon checking his room, he discovered that his gold Rolex Day-Date 36 mm wristwatch, valued at around $38,000, and approximately $1,500 in cash were missing, the affidavit stated.
The man contacted the police and provided the serial number of his missing watch, noting that these symptoms were unusual for him after consuming alcohol. Over the following week, he continued to suffer from severe nausea, weakness, dizziness, and vomiting, leading him to believe that he had been drugged by the alleged offender.
Investigators determined that the watch had indeed been stolen and pawned at a local store. The affidavit added that investigators reviewed surveillance footage from the hotel and “immediately recognized the female as Sarah Tavano, whom [police] suspected from two prior investigations.”
As authorities tell it, Tavano had a modus operandi — “male victims were brought back to hotel rooms under the pretense of consensual sex, consumed drinks, lost consciousness, and later discovered property stolen.”
More than a month later, On Jan. 18, just after midnight, security at Sugar nightclub told detectives that their suspect was back there. Authorities said she was “already known to have probable cause for arrest in a separate case.” Officers detained her, allegedly finding in her possession suspected cocaine, suspected the drug Seroquel — which can cause fainting — and a bottle of Jagermeister “containing a cloudy liquid with visible powder residue settled at the bottom.”
The investigator noted that “the presence of prescription medication mixed into alcoholic beverages is consistent with methods used to incapacitate victims and render them unconscious.”
Tavano was arrested and booked into jail.
