Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Johnathan Bronson, 18, wanted to sell his X-Box. So where did he go, craigslist of course. Bronson listed his X—Box with hope of top dollar in the sale.
Shortly after he listed his X-box, he got a hit and someone wanted to buy it. I’m sure he was happy with the response.
Santos Jorel Gomez, 18 and a 17 year old made contact with Bronson and set it up for them to purchase the X-Box.
Now at least Bronson was smart enough to meet the teens some where other than his home, so they arranged a meeting in a parking lot off of US HWY 19 on Monday night.
Gomez and his partner in crime arrived in the parking lot. One of the teens checked to make sure the X-Box was working and when he confirmed it was operational, he pulled a gun on Bronson and stole the X-Box
Thankfully the criminals were stupid enough to drive their own vehicle to the scene. After they robbed Bronson he was able to call 911 and was able to give descriptions of the suspects and their car.
Shortly thereafter police stopped the 17 year old suspect, recovered the X-Box along with two pellet guns. He was arrested and currently its unknown if he will be charged as an adult.
Gomez was apparently taken home after the robbery and he was arrested at his home in Clearwater on Tuesday morning.
Sadly you have to use an extreme amount of caution using craigslist.
So maybe some guidelines should be in place for craigslist like
1) Find out as much as you can from the buyer(s)
2) Only agree to meet in a busy area, never alone or at your home or in any remote area and even use caution if you agree to meet at their home. If you agree to meet at their home, never go inside and take someone with you and have them wait in the car for you. Make sure to park in a manor that the buyer knows there is someone with you. Then the buyer knows someone is there with you and will hopefully deter any unlawful activity.
3) Get their full name, if they refuse to give it to you, are you sure you want to do business with someone that will not give their name?
4) Keep their name, phone number, email address and any other information with you during the transaction. This information could be handy for the police if anything should go wrong.
5) Once you meet take note of any indentifying mark you can, such as clothing, height, weight, hair color, eye color, even note what shoes they have on if you can, the more the better.
6) Note all the vehicle information you can. Make, model, color, tag, damage to the vehicle, etc.
7) Stay in your car (with it running) as they arrive and then write down all the information you can (so you don’t forget any of it). And with the car running if you feel unsafe or think something is not right with the transaction, drive away. If they really want to buy what you are selling, they will contact you again.
8) Only agree to accept cash, money orders or certified checks. Never personal checks. Credit cards are great if you can process it there on the spot.
9) Sadly keep in mind that everyone has access to craigslist. Murderers, rapist, armed robbers, child molesters anyone of them could be your buyer. Just use common sense and be safe with the decisions you make when electing to sell on craigslist. (or any other list) You never know who you are going to meet when you make that sell.
On a personal note, just a month ago I listed an item on craigslist and almost as soon as it posted on line, I had a buyer.
First he said he was sending a certified check for the item. He offered to pay 100 more than I listed the item for (first red flag)
Secondly a week later he said he made an error and sent his entire pay check to me (second red flag)
Thirdly he wanted me to send the rest of the money buy western union to someone other than him (third red flag)
Lastly, a week later a check arrived, there was only a check. I still don’t know his name or address. He said he was local in Pinellas County but the check was from out west and from a business that does not exist.
There was no listing anywhere on line for the business or a phone number to call the business to verify the check.
He later claimed he was handicapped. When trying to verifying his handicap he said he was deaf. Now I’m not deaf and I’m not sure why being deaf would cause one to send a check for 2801 for a 400 item.
Needless to say the police are now in possession of the check and hopefully he can be arrested.
Anyway, just remember you are responsible for your own safety. Take all the precautions you can to protect yourself.
If you get a response to your ad on craigslist (or any other list) just think about the old saying “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”.
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