Craigslist Buyer Robs Seller of iPhone in Donut Shop Parking Lot

A Craigslist transaction did not end well for a student trying to sell his iPhone when the buyer shoved and robbed him in a Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot.

Oak Lawn Police responded to a robbery just occurred around 8:09 p.m. June 30 at 10301 S. Central Ave.

The 27-year-old student told police that he posted his iPhone 6 for sale on Craigslist earlier in the evening. Within minutes, the buyer called and said he wanted to meet somewhere to buy the phone.

Police said the buyer told the student he was coming from Lansing and suggested that they meet somewhere in the middle. The buyer contacted the student suggested the Dunkin’ Donuts.

When the student arrived he observed the buyer sitting inside the doughnut shop, who he described as a male black in his mid 20s, thin build, tall and braided hair pulled back into a ponytail.

The student then went back to his car to retrieve a counterfeit currency pen. When he came back, the buyer was sitting outside the doughnut shop at a concrete table.

The man identified himself as a the buyer the student had just spoken to on the phone. The student gave him the phone to inspect. Police said that both had previously agreed on $450 as that sale price.

While inspecting the phone, the buyer stood up and threw a roll of currency at the student. The student told him to stop so he could the currency with the pen, police said the buyer shoved him out of the way.

The student tried to chase the buyer eastbound on 103rd Street and then southbound on Washington Avenue until he lost sight of the fleeing buyer.

Officers inspected the nine fifty-dollar bills that the buyer threw at the student. The paper of the bills was different from standard U.S. currency and the ink on the bills was slightly blurred. Police tested each bill with the counterfeit currency pen and verified that the bills were fake.

A witness told police that she saw the buyer get into an older model, gray car with rust spots in the 10300 block of Washington Avenue and then drive westbound on 105th Street. An employee from a nearby business approached police who said his security camera caught images of the buyer.