EDWARDSVILLE – Far too frequently, there have been tragic or scary situations coming from people meeting in a place that is not safe to make a transaction based on one of the on-line buy and trade companies.
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This past Sunday, the Madison County Sheriff’s Department received a call about an aggravated vehicular car jacking. The victim told deputies he had arranged a meeting with an unknown subject about a Craigslist posting in regard to a car for sale. He met the other person on the parking lot of a business near the intersection of St. James Road and Moro Road in rural Edwardsville.
The victim met the person and the person supposedly trying to buy the car got in and then pointed a gun at the person selling the vehicle. The victim slapped at the handgun, which was pointed at his face and the gun discharged inside of the vehicle. Fortunately, the victim wasn’t struck by the discharged round.
Capt. Mike Dixon of the Madison County Sheriff’s Office said the public must keep in mind that they don’t truly know who they are meeting, and what their actual motives are.
“Remember, all of these meetings involve at the very least money, and/or something of value, which are the two motivating factors in every criminal act,” he said. “Buying victimization through on-line purchases is very common. Craiglist crimes usually involve violence if it is a meeting and something goes wrong. We have these cases throughout the county and one that comes to mind was the Taylor Clark murder.”
Events such as the Clark case and others are the reason the Madison County Sheriff’s Office and other police departments throughout the St. Louis region have established Internet Purchase Exchange Sites. The Madison County Sheriff’s Department site is dedicated to Clark.
Capt. Dixon said most predators present themselves as nice as possible.
“They wouldn’t be able to be predators if they came off mean,” he said. “When someone is nice it is the quickest way for them to achieve their goal.”
The Madison County Sheriff’s Department parking lot and other police station parking lots are normally under surveillance, which is a way of protecting people in these on-line transactions that require a public meeting.
“If someone doesn’t want to come to the police station or sheriff’s parking lots, then there is something wrong,” Capt. Dixon said. “It is a dangerous society we live in.”
Anyone with any information about the Sunday case should call the Madison County Sheriff’s Department at the following numbers:
618-692-4433 (Dispatch Center)
618-296-3000 (Anonymous Tip Line)
618-692-0871 (Investigations)
Dixon said, “Don’t put yourself in a dangerous situation; simply choose to meet the buyer or seller at your local police department. I personally do a lot of trading on Craigslist and other sources and I use a police department parking lot if I do a transaction.”
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