Two different in-person transactions in South Florida go terribly wrong when the buyer robs the seller. During one interaction, police say the thief got away in a self-driving Waymo. In the other, the victim says one teen pretended to have a gun.
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NBC6 talked with a 19-year-old who didn’t want to be identified, but wanted to share his story. About six months ago, he started his own clothing brand. He posts his merchandise on his social media pages, and people reach out if they want to meet up and buy from him.
The 19-year-old said on Sunday, he met with two teens in Lauderhill to sell clothes. Everything seemed normal at first, he said. He even told them that he was recording. Then one of the teens raised his jacket and appeared to show a weapon before they ran away.
“I got a little bit nervous because it’s my life; I don’t want to die,” he said. “I record everything; you never know what will happen, you know?”
Lauderhill Police said the teens didn’t actually have a gun on them. However, officers eventually caught up with them and arrested them.
The 19-year-old records all of his sales and interactions through his Ray-Ban Meta glasses. He said he does this for his social media, but also for his own safety.
“The police told me, ‘Good job, it’s smart,'” he said.
There was a similar situation in Miami on Sunday. Aidan Chappell said he was selling a camera on Facebook Marketplace and found someone who wanted to buy it.
When Chappell met the man in person, he let him check out the camera, but the man started walking away and ran into a self-driving Waymo car and got away. Miami Police are still searching for the suspect.
“It was a very trustworthy message, but as it turns out, it didn’t end up being the best situation,” Chappell said. “I think it was a moment of shock for me.”
Chappell is also sharing his story to warn others.
“I just hope to bring more awareness to this situation so other people might think twice about meeting people outside of a police station or where there’s not a lot of people around,” Chappell said.
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Both Chappell and the 19-year-old say they won’t let what happened to them stop them from doing what they love, but they will switch up how they conduct business moving forward.
“I’ll definitely be meeting people at a police station for more expensive equipment moving forward,” Chappell said.
“I will change the location, a police station, a public park, maybe where the police are,” the 19-year-old said.
Miami and Lauderhill Police encourage people to do their transactions in safe locations like the police department.
“If you ever get a feeling that something is not right, go with your gut feeling; usually it’s because something is wrong with the transaction,” Miami Police Officer Michael Vega said.
Many law enforcement agencies welcome people to use their lobby or parking lot to meet up with others to buy or sell. They may even have designated parking spots for you to do so.
Lauderhill Police say a highly encouraged safe place in the City of Lauderhill is the lobby or parking lot of the Police Department, located at 6279 West Oakland Park Boulevard. Sellers should ensure they schedule the transaction during business hours when the lobby is open to the public.
If using the parking lot, Lauderhill Police suggest sellers use the same criteria and ensure it is in the front and in a well-lit area. The Lauderhill Police Department is currently in the process of obtaining signs, but says this does not prevent individuals from currently utilizing the lobby and parking lot for all exchanges and transactions.
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