Police Investigating Rash Of Robberies From OfferUp App

KINGWOOD, TX — Police are warning residents who advertise their items for sale in online venuesw or applications to meet at a local police station when they are completing their transactions, amid reports of several robberies this week.

All of those happened in northeast Houston, with the most brazen outside of a Kingwood home that led to a high-speed chase on Interstate 69.

Five separate robberies were reported on Monday by residents in northeast Houston who used the OfferUp app to sell their items, KTRK reported. (Want to get daily news updates and other events going on in your area? Sign up for the free Humble-Kingwood Patch morning newsletter.)

On Monday, a couple in the early 20s driving a white Cadillac CTS with dealer plates showed up at Kingwood home, supposedly to purchase a used radar detector for $150 advertised on the OfferUp app..

The homeowners were outside with the couple who were in their car, when the man asked to look at the radar detector.

According to a KPRC report, the couple took in the Cadillac with the woman’s husband following them on the Eastex Freeway at speeds near 100 miles per hour.

“He was driving crazy; at crazy speeds,” the woman told KPRC. “The whole time a baby in the back seat. And that was in my head the whole time. If they get in an accident, this baby may not make it.”

The driver got away.

The woman called 911 to report the incident and logged on to the OfferUp app to send out an alert about the thief, but found that he’d changed his profile name and picture.

At about the same time, a man who met the same couple at a Shell station on the Eastex Freeway to sell a used cell phone was also a victim.

In that case, the man told police that the man in the car was looking at the iPhone, when he picked up a pistol from the front seat, handed it to the woman in the passenger seat and drove away with the iPhone.

The couple is described as an Hispanic man about 21-years old, 5’9” tall and about 220 pounds, with a star tattoo on his forehead.

The woman is described as petite with her hair in a bun.

Police are looking at surveillance video from the Kingwood home and will be releasing a photograph of the robber.

Anyone with any information on these two are asked to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477). Your identity will remain anonymous and there is a $5,000 reward.

Image: Shutterstock

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