WASHINGTON – For the second time in two weeks, a man was robbed after responding to a Craigslist ad for a dirtbike for sale. Investigators believe the two cases are related and recommend using public places – even police district station parking lots – as meeting place to complete Internet purchases.
Police say the first incident happened Saturday, May 3 in Severn, Md. A 24-year-old man went to an address listed in an ad around 4 p.m., and four men robbed him at gun point, according to Anne Arundel County police officials. The man was not injured.
The four suspects in the May 3 robbery are all black teenagers — two of them were wearing ski masks. Police say the address where the dirt bike was listed for sale was a vacant property.
On Sunday, May 11, police were called to a property near Severn Elementary School for a reported attempted robbery and shooting. Police say the victims told police they came to buy a dirt bike advertised in a Craigslist posting, but no one answered the door. Then, two men walked over from wooded area. When the victims drove off, they heard a gun shot. Police found a bullet hole in the back of the victims’ car.
Anyone with information on these cases is asked to contact Anne Arundel County Police.
Follow @WTOP on Twitter and on the WTOP Facebook page.
