Third Craigslist Related Robberies in Fredericksburg Within Week

For the third time in less than a week, area residents selling telephones on Craigslist have met face-to-face with the alleged purchaser only to be robbed.

Two of the crimes occurred Monday.

At about 8:10 p.m. September 16, a Stafford resident met a male subject in the 3300 block of Fall Hill Ave. in Fredericksburg.

"After meeting, the victim handed the phone to the supposed buyer for him to look at it and the unknown male took off running with the iPhone in his hand," Fredericksburg Police spokesperson Natatia Bledsoe said.

The suspect was described as a thin black male in his late teens wearing a black and red jacket, dark jeans, and black shoes. 

At about 8:40 p.m., a Locust Grove resident met in the 100 block Goldenleaf Ct. with a male subject with whom he had arranged on Craigslist to sell his phone. 

"When they met, the unknown male grabbed the phone from the victim’s hand and ran toward Fall Hill Avenue," Bledsoe said.

The suspect was described as a black male in his 20s wearing a gray hoodie.  He had some facial hair and his braided hair was in a ponytail.

A Spotsylvania resident had a similar experience September 13.

"The victim reported that when she met the unknown male in a parking lot at about 9:30 a.m. in the 3300 block Fall Hill Ave., the man pushed her backwards, grabbed the phone from her hand and fled on foot," Bledsoe said. The victim was not injured.

The suspect was described as a black male in his 20s with a mustache who was wearing tan pants and a blue shirt.

"Although the descriptions of the subject or subjects are not exactly the same in each instance, we area looking into all possibilities these crimes may be connected," Bledsoe said.

"The police recommend when planning to meet for any transaction of this type you take someone with you and meet the buyer in a well known, well lit public place with many people around," said Bledsoe.

Anyone with possible information about these incidents is asked to call the Fredericksburg Police Department at 540-372-1122.

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