Police: Men used online sales app to lure potential buyers, rob them

Two men face charges of robbery and kidnapping after Tacoma police said they used online sales apps to lure potential buyers and rob them.

The suspects, who are apparently related, used the online apps OfferUp and letgo to lure victims with an deal that should have sounded too good to be true.

“I believe it was a brand new MacBook for $400,” said Tacoma police spokeswoman Officer Loretta Cool.

Investigators said the two would always arrange meetings in dark parking lots near the Tacoma Mall and once the victims arrived they would pull out a gun. At first, police said, they would simply rob the would-be buyers but then they progressed to kidnapping them.

“As the cases progressed, so did their aggressiveness,” Cool said. “They started driving them around, trying to use ATMs to get money.”

In one case, a victim was forced at gunpoint to drive to both Emerald Queen casinos to get cash advances and to ATMs to withdraw money until his bank account was drained.

According to a probable cause affidavit, one of the suspects, identified as Charles Cabrera, told one of the victims, “Hey man, times are tough. Give me everything you got.”

After forcing one victim to drive to an ATM, Cabrera allegedly said, “You know what happens next, right?”

The victim told police he had thought he was about to be killed when Cabrera said, "Don't worry,
I like you. You did what we asked."

Police said Cabrera was arrested after he was spotted driving a car he had stolen from one of the victims. He was arraigned last week.

The second suspect is due in court on Tuesday.

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