After Buying Stolen Disneyland Tickets On Craigslist, Portland Woman Sought Justice

PORTLAND, OR — Ann West and her daughter Haley received an unwelcome surprise at the gates of the Happiest Place on Earth last week when they learned their tickets to the Disneyland resort in Anaheim, California, were stolen.

West, a life skills instructional assistant for special needs kids at Ventura Park Elementary in Portland, told Patch on Friday that she'd bought the tickets through craigslist.org for $150 apiece just a few days prior, and that when she bought them she was fairly confident they were legit — though she had some lingering doubts.

Three-day Disneyland park hopper passes typically run about $315 apiece, but the man she'd bought them from, whose name she did not know, provided a proof of purchase as well as all other requisite materials indicating the tickets were good to go. He'd come to her place of work to deliver the tickets, was clean in appearance, and by all accounts gave no impression of being a thief, West said.

"He was totally professional and gave legitimate answers to all my questions," she said, adding, "He looked great."

But there was something slightly sketchy about him, she said. Something felt just a little off when she pressed him on whether the tickets were good.

After the sale, West called Disneyland to see if there was any way to confirm the tickets' validity before she made the trek to Southern California. Unfortunately, Disneyland representatives told her, there was no way to know until she got to the gate.

So, three days later when she presented the two three-day park hopper passes to the Disneyland employee at the turnstiles to get in, she wasn't entirely shocked at the bad news.

With Haley in tears and the line now held up, a Disneyland supervisor pulled West to the side to find out what was going on.

"I was completely honest with them," West said. "The supervisor told me that 99 percent of tickets sold on craigslist are fraudulent. They were very understanding."

After explaining to West and Haley "there is no crying at Disneyland," the pair were allowed in with two complimentary tickets for their day trip.

"It worked out just fine," West said, noting the trip was for her own birthday weekend. "We didn't let that frustrate us. We had a great time."

But when West returned to Portland, she had a scam artist to catch.

First West conducted her own investigation and found the same advertisement on craigslist. She logged the post ID and pulled up all the emails and text messages she'd exchanged with the seller. She also knew that because the seller brought the tickets to Ventura Park he would be on the surveillance cameras there.

With her own evidence compiled, West called the Portland Police Bureau.

"At first they told me they were never going to catch him," she said. "'Oh, but you are,' I said. There's too much evidence. He's not going to get away."

From police and Disneyland, West learned the seller likely sold fraudulent tickets at least 15 other times.

"I said, I'm not going to allow this to keep going on," West said. "He's going to keep doing it. What if it's a little kid next time? It's so unfair."

With West's detailed documentation, Portland detectives got to work and quickly found the faulty craigslist advertisement and more stolen three-day passes for sale by the same individual, 39-year-old Michael Gordon McCrobie.

Under the pretense of buying more three-day passes, an undercover officer setup a meeting with McCrobie at Southeast Stark Street and Southeast 102nd Avenue on Sept. 27.

After following through with the sale, McCrobie was arrested and taken to the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges of theft by deception, computer crimes, and attempted theft. He has since been released on his own recognizance.

"The sting operation went perfectly," West said. "He's caught, and he's not going to to do it any more."

McCrobie, a San Diego resident, reportedly told interviewing officers that he was in the Portland area visiting his girlfriend while he also searched for a job, and that he uses heroin and methamphetamine regularly.

Police believe there may be more victims of McCrobie's alleged scam. Anyone who believes they were sold stolen tickets by McCrobie should contact East Precinct Detectives at 503-823-4800, or Jason.Harris@portlandoregon.gov.

This post has been updated with additional information from Ann West.

Related Patch Stories:

• Fake Disneyland Ticket Seller Gets Two Years for Felony Theft
• Disneyland Magic Gifted To SoCal Family Sold Counterfeit Tickets

Photo Courtesy: Portland Police Bureau