Man Kidnapped During Bogus Craigslist Dealing (Sam Spital)

Commentary by Criminal Attorney Sam Spital:

“A suspect is facing kidnapping and attempted robbery charges in a plot that began with an advertisement on Craigslist by a seller who intended to find a buyer for his camera lens &/or photography equipment. The NBC Channel 39 online news reported on January 16, 2013 the male adult suspect who has not yet been caught was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and may have been 25 years old. The article revealed the victim met the suspect at a hotel in Pacific Beach; he had a gun and then forced the victim to drive to his bank in La Jolla to have him withdraw his money. The suspect did not like that the bank was taking too much time to get the money so he demanded the victim drive away without obtaining any money.

There have been similar robbery crimes as well as at least one murder incident related to ads placed on Craigslist and, therefore, the unsuspecting public needs to be more cognizant of the risks of meeting someone they do not know and/or to allow a would-be buyer to come to their residence. These offenses have escalated and represent a further sign of the economic crisis the country has been facing far too long; some pundits have opined the current economic decline is due to a lack of appropriate and timely leadership to obtain solutions via bipartisan consensus.”

–Sam Spital