California police looking for craigslist robbers
Pittsburg police look for robbers who lured through cyber ad:
Like I needed to give you another reason not to do business on craigslist.
PITTSBURG — In a disturbing new trend of cyber crime, Pittsburg police are looking for two robbers who lured victims Tuesday evening to an apartment complex with a Craigslist classified ad.
Two San Jose men drove to Contra Costa to purchase a computer advertised for sale on the popular community Web site, Pittsburg Lt. Brian Addington said.
When no one showed at the original meeting location in Concord, the men called the sellers, who gave a new address to an apartment complex in the 2100 block of Crestview Drive in Pittsburg. When the buyers arrived around 6:45 p.m., two gunmen approached the car and demanded their money, Addington said.
One gunman ordered one of the victims out of the car, holding him hostage at the apartments, while the other gunman forced the second buyer to drive around to area ATM machines to withdraw cash, Addington said.
After hitting two ATMs, the hostage was driving to another cash machine, when he spotted an officer in the Foods Co. parking lot at 300 Atlantic Ave. He headed toward the officer, flagging him down and yelling that he was being robbed, Addington said.
The gunman jumped out of the moving car and darted inside the Foods Co. supermarket. The officer gave chase, but lost the gunman in the warehouse area, Addington said.
Police evacuated some 50 to 75 customers and employees from the supermarket while officers surrounded the building. Police searched the building and neighboring area, but it appeared the gunman ultimately
escaped out the back door, Addington said.
Meanwhile, the gunman at the apartment complex pistol-whipped that victim and fled before police arrived. The man was treated for minor head injuries. The other victim was unharmed.
The bandits posted identical ads on Craigslist for different neighborhoods, including the Dublin/Pleasanton/Livermore and Concord/Pleasant Hill/Martinez areas. All of the listings have been removed from the site, Addington said.
The article states that when buying something from craigslist you should meet the seller in a public place. I disagree because I’ve posted stories here before about people who were robbed when meeting an alleged seller in a public place. My word of advice is not to do business on craigslist at all.
Tags: california, craigslist, pittsburg, robberyRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Criminals
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