AKRON, Ohio — Akron Police are warning people to be careful when selling or buying items off Facebook Marketplace after two separate robberies on Tuesday.
Police told News 5 that the robberies happened just hours apart, and both victims were robbed at gunpoint.
Akron police said the first incident took place on Wilber Avenue around 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old victim arranged to meet people there after they agreed to buy the man’s ATV. The victim told police that when he showed up, one of the suspects took the ATV at gunpoint from him.
Then, just a few hours later, a 27-year-old eager to buy a PlayStation 5 on Vernon Odom Boulevard met with a seller there.
The seller told the victim to cash app the money, but after he sent him the cash, the seller pulled out a gun and told the victim to leave.
"We're fortunate in these two cases that these citizens weren't hurt, " Akron Police Captain Michael Miller said.
Miller said that if you plan to meet someone to buy or sell an item, make sure that you know the location and bring someone with you. He said to never go by yourself.
Miller also suggests that you choose the parking lot of a business with security cameras, but he said nowadays, most police departments have safe exchange zones, and Akron is one of them.
“We allow courtesy parking outside the police department and just in that particular area of that zone, it's under surveillance," Miller said. "So that takes away the edge for the unknown in terms of whomever may be planning to victimize someone.”
Miller suggests not giving out too much information, such as your social security number or banking information, but trying to get as much information out of the person you are dealing with.
"If the other person that you're exchanging the goods and services through is reluctant to provide information about themselves, then that should be a clue to maybe avoid that particular transaction," Miller said.
Akron Police said that in those two cases, they did recover the victim’s ATV and arrested a 17-year-old involved.
However, they are still looking for the other two suspects in that case. In that second incident…they are still working to identify the suspect, and it remains under investigation.
