Laptop Sale Turns Ugly: Prospective Buyer Robbed; Los Gatos 'Seller' Arrested

A 19-year-old man was arrested Dec. 5 in the armed robbery of a person who agreed to meet in Los Gatos to buy a computer listed on an online sales forum but was robbed at gunpoint, a police official said.

Gregory Messenger of Los Gatos was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail last Friday on suspicion of robbery, according to police Detective Sgt. Clinton Tada.

On Dec. 5, the Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department took a report from a victim about an armed robbery that took place in Los Gatos around 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 4, Tada said.

The victim told police about agreeing to meet the suspect in the area of Bachman Avenue and Bachman Court to buy a laptop computer after reading about the sales offer online, police said.

But when the victim arrived, the suspect pointed a gun and demanded money from the victim, according to Tada.

Police detectives, from an investigation, were able to identify Messenger as the suspect and at about 11:45 p.m. Dec. 5, patrol officers observed him driving in the 100 block of Cherrystone Drive, pulled him over and arrested him, Tada said.

Officers confiscated the weapon allegedly used in the robbery and determined it was a replica firearm, he said.

--Bay City News