OVILLA - An Ellis County man said the next time he sells something on Craigslist, he won't invite the prospective buyer to his house. His change of thinking comes after he was robbed at gunpoint for a computer and an iPad.
But an app helped nab the robbers and get his computers back.
A Craigslist sale suddenly went bad. The victim, who asked us not to use his name, was selling an iMac computer. An interested buyer showed up at his Ellis County house in Ovilla, with four other people.
“He opened the trunk of the car and he loaded the iMac in the car. And then, I said, 'Well, who has the money for the iMac?' And the guy in the back seat said he does,” said the victim.
One of the men then pulled a gun and ordered the man back inside the house to get his iPad.
“And they basically were telling me as we were walking, if I let anyone else in the house know that [the alleged robber] had a gun, they would shoot me," the victim said.
The robbers drove off. The victim remembered he downloaded an app on his iPad called "Find My iPhone." It allowed him to track it. Ovilla police arrived and followed the thieves' route.
The officers called Dallas police, who found the robbers driving on the Dallas North Tollway, and arrested them.
“So we were actually able to see the building of their apartment complex and where they were," the robbery victim said. "We watched the little dot move on the map as it went."
One day later, the victim had his computer and iPad back, with a lesson learned.
“You don't want to invite anybody to your house, nor do you want to have somebody have you come to their house," said Ovilla Police Chief Mike Moon. "If you're going to meet with somebody, meet in a public place, somewhere you know someone else will be around."
The victim said while he will still sell items on Craigslist, he won't be inviting buyers over any time soon.
“One thing that’s true, there is an app for everything,” he said.
E-mail sstoler@wfaa.com
