An Arizona man was allegedly murdered by his date moments after texting his family to say he had been 'catfished' by her fake dating profile. 

Norris Taft, 52, was found in the parking lot outside his home in Phoenix, Arizona, on May 3 after a caller reported him being run over by an SUV that fled the scene. 

Police said he had been on a first date with Mikela Bahe, 30, who is accused of getting behind the wheel of Taft's car after their failed tryst and running him down. 

According to charging documents, Taft met Bahe on the dating app MocoSpace, and he drove to a Dunkin' Donuts to pick her up. 

But their encounter quickly took a turn when Taft said Bahe did not resemble her pictures, and texted his nephew to say: 'I've been catfished,' court documents said. 

Taft then tried to end the date, but the pair continued to drive around the Phoenix area through the afternoon, stopping at a gas station and a marijuana dispensary before driving to his apartment complex. 

Surveillance footage from the building showed Bahe get into Taft's Cadillac Escalade SUV in the parking lot, before Taft walked in front of the vehicle, police said. 

Taft was then seen with his arms out in an attempt to stop the vehicle, but Bahe allegedly accelerated and ran him over before leaving him behind in the parking lot. 

Taft, a father of four, was found by officers with severe injuries and was taken to hospital but died hours later, police said.  

After she fled the scene, authorities said they tracked Bahe with her social media posts and surveillance footage to Flagstaff, Arizona, and she was arrested on May 6. 

At her arraignment in court, prosecutors said surveillance footage of the incident showed Bahe 'intentionally struck' Taft with his own vehicle. 

'Certainly looked like it was intentional, as she was accelerating even though the victim was in front of the car with his hands up,' prosecutors said.  

Taft's nephew told investigators that he had spoken with his uncle earlier in the day before his death, and was told that he was going to meet a woman he had met online. 

He recalled his uncle telling him about his planned date in the afternoon, before it went awry when he saw that Bahe did not resemble her online profile, court records showed. 

During her days on the run, Bahe used Taft's vehicle to drive around Arizona, including stopping at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on May 4 before getting a shuttle to Flagstaff, police said. 

She was found in another Cadillac Escalade near Route 89 and was taken into custody.  

When interviewed by Phoenix police, Bahe said she only remembered being picked up by Taft and visiting a dispensary, but claimed to have no recollection of running him over or fleeing the scene. 

After being arrested, Bahe later called her mother and told her she was 'going to prison for a while', per court documents cited by AZ Central. 

Bahe is being held on a $1 million bond and is next in court on May 13. 

Following Taft's death in hospital, his family paid tribute to him as a loving father to four children whose 'loss has left an unimaginable void.' 

'His passing was completely unexpected, and our family is now navigating both deep grief and the financial burden of funeral expenses,' his family said on a GoFundMe. 

His daughter Brianna Fallon told 12News that she was stunned by the sudden loss of her father, saying she 'didn't know' Bahe and wasn't aware of his plans to go on a date with her. 

She said she was told by a building manager that it appeared Bahe was trying to steal her father's car, and Taft was run over when he tried to run after her. 

'She hit him and then just left,' she said.

'It is honestly hard to even fathom, it sounds like this is just a story that you read but never happens to somebody you know... it doesn't feel real.'