Struggle for knife with phone thief
Dad’s Facebook marketplace deal goes badly wrong as kids watch
A man was allegedly threatened with a knife in front of his children after a Facebook marketplace deal turned sour.
Antony, who didn’t want to give his full name, told the Weekend Herald he listed a new iPhone 13 Pro on the social media site on Monday and received a message asking if it was still available the next morning.
He arranged a time for the buyer to pick up the item from his Christchurch house later that day.
When a girl and boy, who appeared to be about 15 or 16, arrived at his door, they asked to look at the phone but Antony would not hand it over before receiving payment.
The girl said she would go back to their car to get the money while the boy remained, Antony said.
“The boy was standing close to me and he said ‘bro, I’m taking this phone’.
“I grabbed his hand and that’s when he took a knife from his waist pocket. It would’ve been around 30cm long.”
After a scuffle, Antony managed to grab the boy’s hand that held the knife.
“He was around 5ft 11 and I’m 5ft 9 but somehow I managed to grab his hand.”
Antony then saw his wife with their two young sons at the door.
“My wife was screaming. The whole thing happened right in front of them.”
His wife yelled at him to let the boy go, so he did and the pair ran off with the iPhone.
Antony was shocked the robbery happened at 3pm in his driveway.
“It is so scary to think how confident they are to commit a crime in the daylight at a busy time.”
After contacting police, he noticed a new listing on Facebook Marketplace for the same phone that had been stolen 15 minutes earlier.
“I knew it was mine because it was 250gb, which is pretty uncommon in New Zealand and was posted so quickly afterwards.”
Antony asked his friend to contact the seller to try and get information to give to police.
They provided the serial number, which showed it was the phone that belonged to Antony.
“It makes me angry. These teenagers could do anything. Luckily we were safe this time but if it was a smaller person they could have died.”
I grabbed his hand and that’s when he took a knife from his waist pocket. It would’ve been around 30cm long.
Antony (victim)
After posting his story on Facebook, Antony said he was contacted by the boy’s father.
“He apologised and said police would catch him.”
It was frustrating, Antony said, as it was not the first time something like this had happened to him.
He has had a bike stolen twice, and lost $20,000 in items after a burglary at his previous house 18 months ago.
Police have arrested a 15-year-old girl in relation to the incident and she has been charged with theft and aggravated assault. She will next appear in the Christchurch Youth Court on May 17.