DAYTON — A new warning from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office when it comes to people selling things through online marketplaces.
News Center 7 has learned that sellers are getting robbed at gunpoint.
Deputies said you are trying to sell cars, furniture, or shoes on Facebook Marketplace, you need to be aware, go someplace that has cameras, preferably a designated Safe Exchange Zone, where the sale can be monitored.
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Jeremy Roy with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said, “In the last week, we had multiple folks on Facebook Marketplace attempt to see designer shoes, and they were robbed at gunpoint.”
Roy said detectives deal with a lot of Marketplace robberies of dirt bikes and ATVs in the summer. This time, thieves are targeting designer sneakers.
“A lot of the high-end Nikes, you know, the special drops hat you can get your hands on so many and then they can sell on the secondary market for a lot of money,” Roy said.
He also said a couple of sellers agreed to meet buyers at an apartment complex on West Third Street, but when they met, they had guns pulled and their shoes taken, a dangerous situation.
Detectives developed enough information to serve a search warrant and managed to recover several pairs of shoes, valued at around $1,200 a pair.
Deputies said they also confiscated a gun, complete with a 50-round magazine, believed to have been used by three young teens, juveniles, while robbing the victims.
Roy said their advice to online sellers is to always meet buyers in an open, public spot, preferably a safe exchange zone.
The sheriff’s department has one in its Washington Township. substation and another at the Harrison Twp. substation.
“They want to meet you at a location that you’re not familiar with, that a red flag,” Roy said.
The detectives who arrested three juveniles while they served the search warrant brought those teens to the Montgomery County Juvenile Justice Center. It will be up to a juvenile judge whether they stay there or not, as their cases move forward.
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