OfferUp Exchange Ends in Robbery

On May 27, 2018, at about 12:42 PM, Tualatin Police responded to a report of a robbery in the parking lot of the Tualatin Fred Meyer. 

Tualatin officers learned that the victims, identified as an adult male and a juvenile female, arranged a meeting with the two adult Caucasian male suspects they met on OfferUp, an online sales app.  The victims originally met the suspects at the Tualatin Verizon store.  They intended on purchasing cell phones the suspects had listed for sale through a contact the suspects claimed to have with Verizon.  The suspects asked the victims to bring a Visa gift card preloaded with $1200 to pay for the phones.  When they attempted to use the Visa card to make the purchase, it was declined.

In an attempt to continue the purchase, the victims left their car at the Verizon store and rode with the suspects to the Fred Meyer store to withdraw cash from the Visa card, but were unsuccessful.  One of the suspects then drove all of them to the back side of the store parking lot, so that he could smoke marijuana while the victim called Western Union to resolve the cash withdrawal issue.  While parked on the backside of the Fred Meyer, one of the male suspects retrieved a stun gun device from the trunk and used it on the male victim who was seated in the back seat.  The other suspect pulled a knife, threatening the female victim who was seated in the front seat. 

The two male suspects demanded all cash the victims had as well as their cell phones.  The victims were able to escape the car with no significant injuries and ran to the nearby roadway, where they asked for a ride from a passerby.  The driver was able to call police and transport the victims back to their car, still parked at the Tualatin Verizon store.

A witness reported seeing the altercation in the Fred Meyer parking lot and followed the suspect’s vehicle southbound on I-205.  It was described as a green and blue 1998 Honda Civic EX sedan.  The witness continued to follow it until they reached the area of I-5 and Stafford Road where the suspects were seen throwing the victim’s purse out of their car.

The victim’s purse and wallet were retrieved from the side of I-205 with the assistance of Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.  Her money, gift cards and cell phone were no longer in it.  

Tualatin officers are actively investigating this incident in an attempt to identify the two Caucasian male suspects.  Anyone with any information is asked to call 503-629-0111 and reference case #18-4944.

No further information at this time.