Police: OfferUp deal turned into robbery
BOYNTON BEACH — City police are again urging people who conduct online deals to consummate them in a police lobby or some other safe place — this as two men were charged with snatching a Greenacres-area man’s gold necklace while selling him a chainsaw.
Jeremiah Micklewhite, 18, and Cameron Richie, 20, were arrested Tuesday by the U.S. Marshals South Florida Regional Task Force.
Micklewhite and Richie were booked at about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday into the Palm Beach County Jail. Each was charged with robbery by sudden snatching and grand larceny of $300 to $5,000. In court Wednesday, Judge Dina Keever Agrama ordered that each be held in lieu of $18,000 bail.
Police said they also are searching for a third man they believe took part in the incident.
A statement said Boynton Beach police “would like to remind the public that our lobby is a designated safe zone for mobile app transactions. Our lobby doors are open 24/7/365.”
The police lobby, in the City Hall complex at Boynton STAYING SAFE
Tips when meeting online buyers and sellers:
Meet the person in a well-lit public area. Many police departments offer their lobbies as safe places for transactions.
Don’t meet the person alone.
Bring only the exact amount of cash that the item is worth.
Don’t use wire transfers, such as Western Union, or non-cash payments.
Check cash payments to make sure the currency isn’t counterfeit.
Don’t offer personal contact information. Communicate through the in-app messenger, which can be monitored.
Check on the person’s ratings in the app.
If the buyer or seller follows the other after the transaction, contact a local lawenforcement agency.
SOURCES: OfferUp, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Beach and Seacrest boulevards, has been open for transactions since January 2017.
The 22-year-old alleged victim, who lives near Military Trail and Tenth Avenue North, said he’d arranged through the OfferUp website to buy a chainsaw from a man identified only as “John.”
As he arrived with his wife and two children, three men approached, one holding a chainsaw. After looking it over, the main said, he brought out $200 in cash. One of the men then snatched it and also pulled from the man’s neck a gold necklace valued at $2,500, he told police. He said the three men ran off, dropping the chainsaw.
The man said he saw the three men jump into a blue sedan and take off. Police used the phone number used in the OfferUp transaction to get a name and address for a woman who lived in the nearby Golfview neighborhood and who owned a blue Honda Accord.
The woman told police Micklewhite, who is her son, had been using the car. She said he lived in the home along with another son and Richie, her grandson. The alleged victim picked out Micklewhite and Richie from a photo lineup, the report said.
The OfferUp app, which allows people to sell items to each other without a retail store or middleman, allows people to anonymously post a photo of an item to sell and to chat with potential buyers.