Craigslist robbery

[seamusTX]

So I find your comment noteworthy. As an aside, more than once I have had north eastern "yankees" ask if I was from the south ...

Thanks.

I'm a very amateur student of ethnography. The people of the Appalachian region of Pennsylvania slowly migrated down the Ohio River valley and populated southern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,and northern Kentucky from the 17th to the 19th centuries.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award99/icuhtml/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Many of those people later sought their fortunes in Texas and other western states. That's where the southwestern drawl originated.

- Jim

[seamusTX]

Dayton, Ohio, last week -- A man used Craigslist to arrange to sell a 1986 Camaro. The buyer jerked him around, eventually luring him into a robbery. The seller and his girlfriend got into a firefight with the robbers. The seller/defender was shot. One of the robbers was arrested. The stolen car has not been recovered.

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/Cr ... px?rss=703" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

[chartreuse]

I don't really think it is a craig's list specific crime. Meeting a stranger at an unknown location for the exchange of high priced goods is very dangerous and should not be approaced lightly. If you could find a location in close proximity to a police station that would be perfect.

At least the guy came prepared and he and his buddy were not injured. Although it sounds like he needs some practice.

Now that's a very good idea!

[ELB]

Dayton, Ohio, last week -- A man used Craigslist to arrange ...etc

Reminds me of this one, also in Ohio. I don't have the link anymore, I saved off the text when I was working on another project. No craigslist, but same idea. Craigslist's success certainly opens up the pool of potential victims...

Suspect pleads guilty in aggravated robbery case
BY MORGAN DAY • The Eagle-Gazette Staff • March 14, 2009

LANCASTER - A man accused of planning a robbery that backfired faces as much as 13 years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated robbery Friday.


...
Floyd allegedly placed an advertisement for a Bobcat skid loader in a local newspaper to entice someone into meeting him and another man at a Lancaster quarry.

Floyd reportedly shot at the man who arrived at the quarry to buy the equipment Aug. 12, 2008, and originally was charged with aggravated robbery and felonious assault.

...

Law enforcement officials said Zeger responded to the advertisement and went to make the business transaction at the quarry Aug. 12. Floyd wore a black ski mask and allegedly approached Zeger from behind as Zeger walked to meet a man waiting for him.

Floyd allegedly told Zeger to get down, while pointing a black handgun at him.

When Zeger got on the ground, he grabbed his .38-caliber handgun and allegedly shot six times at the male in the ski mask. Floyd allegedly fired three shots back at Zeger, according to the police report.

Zeger was not injured in the incident

[phrogg]

I have been the victim of "theft at night" in a CL exchange. I do not know whether I can say it was fortunate or not that I wasn't armed. I was upset, but I had the guy's name, phone number, email address, and was staring at the back of his car (license plate) while he drove off with my iPhone. I got all the info to the cops and it all matched up for Terance (names not changed to protect the guilty). Don't know if they ever caught him on this charge, apparently he's been arrested every 2 months for the last 8 years on something stupid.

Anyway, I do about 3-4 CL transactions per week with stuff I sell. This was a great realization as to why I needed to change my CL habits.

1) I needed my CHL - in process
2) I need to have my meetups INSIDE a public place and not after dark - I like malls and the Whataburger's where the cops hang out
3) Watch to see that you are not followed back home (I don't want to endanger my family members in a shootout)
4) If its a large transaction (over $500) then I'll bring another CHL with me and potentially call up an LEO friend to see where they are hanging out and meet up there.

[seamusTX]

In Manhattan, New York, this week, a man advertised a BMW for sale online (on cars.com, not Craigslist). He met a prospective "buyer." The seller was later found in the trunk of the car, stabbed and severely injured, after the car crashed into a taxi and the driver-buyer fled.

A convicted felon with a penchant for stealing BMWs is suspected and sought by police.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/nyregion/28bmw.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/nyreg ... c_ev=click" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Look at this guy's mug shot.

This robbery shows signs of obsessive-compulsive behavior bordering on insanity. The thief got himself into an aggravated felony that may yet turn into capital murder. He wrecked the car he was trying to steal, and the police know who he is and where to look for him.

The moral of the story being not to assume that criminals are deterred by circumstances that a reasonable person would consider a deterrent.

No way am I ever going to sell anything that way.

- Jim

[baldeagle]

I don't really think it is a craig's list specific crime. Meeting a stranger at an unknown location for the exchange of high priced goods is very dangerous and should not be approaced lightly. If you could find a location in close proximity to a police station that would be perfect.

At least the guy came prepared and he and his buddy were not injured. Although it sounds like he needs some practice.

Practice? He was confronted by three guys with drawn weapons. I imagine both he and his buddy were ducking and dodging and trying to find cover. The fact that he didn't hit anyone is not at all unusual. In fact it's almost the norm in gun fights. When someone is shooting at you your aim tends to get affected by things like trying not to get shot. His buddy might be a great shot at the range.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Another Craigslist-related crime was the man who
cruised the "Personal Services" part of CL, met some escorts
and robbed the 1st one, then robbed and shot to death the 2nd.

This happened in an expensive Boston hotel.

The murderer was a pre-med student from NYS. He had used
someone else's ID to buy an XD9 in New Hampshire. That was
the murder weapon. He was residing in Quincy, Mass while
attending a Boston college.

The cops tracked him down through the PC-related data involved in
the CL communications.

IIRC, the murderer committed suicide in jail by hanging himself.

SIA

[seamusTX]

Illegal prostitution (like every other illegal activity) has always been dangerous for both parties. Prostitutes are a favorite target of serial killers, because prostitutes often have no family or personal connections who would miss them.

(That's why I find it so annoying when movies and TV glamorize prostitution, but I'm getting off-topic.)

- Jim

[VMI77]

4) If its a large transaction (over $500) then I'll bring another CHL with me and potentially call up an LEO friend to see where they are hanging out and meet up there.

If you're going armed that might not be such a good idea.....something goes down, you draw, you sure the police are going to be able to sort out who the bad guys are?

Edit:

Never mind.....some how it didn't connect when you said you'd go where your LEO friend was hanging out. That's a horse of a different color.

[VMI77]

In Manhattan, New York, this week, a man advertised a BMW for sale online (on cars.com, not Craigslist). He met a prospective "buyer." The seller was later found in the trunk of the car, stabbed and severely injured, after the car crashed into a taxi and the driver-buyer fled.

A convicted felon with a penchant for stealing BMWs is suspected and sought by police.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/nyregion/28bmw.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/nyreg ... c_ev=click" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Look at this guy's mug shot.

This robbery shows signs of obsessive-compulsive behavior bordering on insanity. The thief got himself into an aggravated felony that may yet turn into capital murder. He wrecked the car he was trying to steal, and the police know who he is and where to look for him.

The moral of the story being not to assume that criminals are deterred by circumstances that a reasonable person would consider a deterrent.

No way am I ever going to sell anything that way.

- Jim

Not sure why it would be any different if you took out an ad in the newspaper? In fact, seems like newspaper ads would be a safer bet for a criminal because there isn't any connection between buyer and seller like there is over the internet, unless they're stupid enough to call from their cell phone. I assumed being robbed in a sale was a possibility way back before there was any Craigslist --and took various precautions. Same goes for garage sales.

[seamusTX]

I don't see why online advertising would necessarily be more risky than a newspaper ad, except for two elements:

• Online transactions allow for more anonymous communication than an ad in the paper, because it's easier to set up a throw-away e-mail address than an anonymous phone number.
• Online ads are more readily searchable over a greater area.
  
  Newspaper ads typically run for a few days in a single city, and the newspaper web sites are not all easily searchable.

This kind of incident seems to be in the news more frequently. I don't know if it's just because of the internet-related novelty, or whether it actually is more frequent now than years ago.

You also see the prevalence of scams that would be difficult to impossible to commit without online transactions—though of course there have been scams for all of recorded history.

- Jim

[VMI77]

Online ads are more readily searchable over a greater area.

- Jim

No doubt this draws a greater potential group of those with criminal intent. However, a lot of newspapers have their classified ads on the internet so it's possible for someone so inclined to just look up adds in neighboring communities. Of course, Craigslist pulls them all together and makes it easier, but it also makes a potentially common link. Then again, as you said before, a lot of criminals are stupid.

[AJ80]

shoulda had a cover sniper in an overwatch position....

Would that even be legal?

[seamusTX]

shoulda had a cover sniper in an overwatch position....

Would that even be legal?

Just for the sake of conversation, in Indiana, it probably would not have been illegal (which means it would be legal).

Indiana on the whole is more laid back about firearms than Texas. So is Kentucky. Neither state had to deal with Reconstruction and its aftermath.

- Jim