craigscrimelist

Man robbed in Moreno Valley after arranging deal through Craigslist:
24-year-old Joseph Hill of Moreno Valley, California has been arrested after robbing a would be craigslist buyer. Hill placed a phony ad on craigslist advertising a Playstation 3 for sale. When the victim arrived to the predetermined meeting place he was robbed at gunpoint by Hill.

Sometimes local only doesn't even help.

Antioch Woman Allegedly Sold Sex On Craigslist:
Police in Antioch, California arrested Jennifer Cervantes, age not given, on a charge if suspicion of prostitution after undercover detectives responded to her craigslist ad.

Number of Craigslist victims increases:
I originally posted about the craigslist rental scam in Covina, California here. I roginally said that the scammer didn't own the property. That turned out to be false. I just assumed that since that's how the scam normally works. The owner of the property at 5441 Calera Ave. in Covina is Pardeep Singh and police are having trouble locating him.

Also in the last post I mentioned that he had taken $2400 from a dozen people. That total is now up to 50 with some of them now homeless.

That's $120K that Mr. Singh has absconded with.

When they catch him each person who was ripped off by him should get 5 minutes alone with him, in a perfect world.

A Covina rental deal that proved to good to be true:
A dozen families in Covina, California fell for the too good to be true renters' scam on craigslist. Each paid $2400 to a person who didn't even own the property.

So far no one has been arrested.

Mother, Son Accused Of Pimping 15-Year Old Girl. Girl Allegedly Pimped Out To More Than 1200 Men:
37-year-old Lavern Vaughn and her son, 20-year-old Lavor Carter, of Vallejo, California have been arrested for pimping out a 15-year-old girl. The pair posted almost 700 ads on craigslist pimping the girl out in Northern California.

The victim couldn't just leave either...

The federal indictment alleges carter would whip her with a belt and plastic rod, burn her with a lighter, or strike her. She reportedly tried to leave Carter on multiple occasions, but he told her that if she left, she would not leave alive.

In the same indictment, Carter allegedly duct taped the minor to a chair inside an apartment and left her there for 12 hours. Other accusations include pouring boiling water on her leg and chest, and locking her in a garage all night long.

If this story couldn't be any sicker read what the suspects' relative said when confronted by the media...

We asked Gail Vaughn, mother and grandmother of the woman and young man arrested by FBI agents, if they were really pimping out a young girl. "No," she said. "The girl they're accused of pimping [isn't] a kid. She's 16 and has a two-year old daughter."

But she's still a minor under the law. "Yeah, but we didn't know that."

Who the hell doesn't know that minors are under 18 and why is that supposed to make a difference?

And that's right I said victim. You can take your victimless crime and shove it.

Craigslist scam targets teachers:
Another variation of the wire fraud scam comes to us today from Bakersfield, California that is targeting teachers.

An ad is placed from out of state asking for tutoring help for a child saying that child will be in town for a few days and in this case offering $400. When the teacher or whomever replies to the add is sent a $1500 check and asked to wire back $1100.

Big 'ol red flag right there.

Never wire anything. Local only and cash only if at all.

Four arrested in pimping, prostitution bust at Antioch motel:
Detectives in Antioch, California recently made arrests in a craigslist prostitution sting. During the investigation they found a 17-year-old runaway girl who was advertising in craigslist that was living with a 29-year-old registered sex offender. The sex offender, Glen Banks, was taken into custody for violating his probation.

Also arrested was 22-year-old Savanna Lopez, who was advertising of SFRedbook, and her alleged pimp 25-year-old Joseph Thomas.

A 17-year-old hooker living with a sex offender. Please tell me again how this is a victimless crime.

Technology helps fuel 'pimping' of young girls:
This is a very powerful article about a case of child prostitution in the Bay Area that was in part facilitated by craigslist.

I would do the story and its author a great injustice if I tried to either quote or summarize the story. That's how good I think it is.

For those of you who think that child prostitution is not happening on craigslist you need to read this article.

And again for those of you that think prostitution is a victimless crime you need to read this article.

Four suspected carjackers arrested in Hayward; one at large:
Four people have been arrested in Hayward, California for carjacking a man who was selling his car on craigslist.

The man was giving the suspects a test drive when they pulled over under the guise of checking the engine. That's when the victim was robbed of his car and his belongings.

Arrested were 23-year-old Anthony Ochoa, 18-year-old Terrell Moore, 19-year-old Deandre Alberty, and an unnamed 17-year-old.

Another suspect, 21-year-old Antonio Deray Darnell, is still at large.

Just by selling a car on craigslist you could be taking your life in your hands.

Teens arrested on suspicion of burglary after items appear on Craigslist:
Two teens from Santee, California were arrested after a detective caught them trying to sell stolen goods off of craigslist. Check out the nondescript items they were trying to sell.

Sheriff's Detective Tom Drake thought the ad for baby blue Fender Stratocaster guitar and a black-and-silver Fender amplifier might match property recently reported stolen during a home burglary, Sgt. Tom Poulin said.

Because baby blue strats are just all over craigslist and would never appear on a police burglary report.

They may have just placed an ad that said "Stolen Guitar".

And when Detective Drake searched their car even more stolen stuff was found.

Man carjacked, robbed in Pittsburg after responding to Craigslist sex ad:
A 23-year-old man from Brentwood, California was carjacked in Pittsburg, California after responding to a craigslist hooker ad. The location should have been a dead giveaway that he was going to be in trouble...

The victim found the ad on Craigslist and called the phone number to set up a date with the purported prostitute at a Pittsburg address in the Brickyard Housing Development around 9:30 p.m., Pittsburg police Lt. Brian Addington said Tuesday.

I don't know anything about Pittsburg but that sounds like a pretty rough part of town. The phrase crack-ho comes to mind.

Anyway instead of being met by a prostitute he was met with a shotgun butt to the head and his truck was stolen.

Let that be a warning to all you crack-ho aficionados.

Prostitution arrests linked to Craigslist ads:

Two women were arrested in Glendale after vice officers spotted an ad promising "Lovely Asian girls want to make U very happy" on Craigslist.com, police said Thursday.

Was "Me rove you rong time" already being used? Even if I was a purveyor of prostitution I would still insist on proper grammar.

Li Feng, 52, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of prostitution, and Xiu Ju Wang, 50, was jailed on suspicion of assisting in an act of prostitution, said Officer John Balian.

Just the usual undercover sting.

Pomona Craigslist prostitutes busted:
Another undercover sting. This time in Pomona, California.

The arrested suspects were:
# Tristan Murray, 23, of Riverside;
# Kelly Miles, 23, of Pomona;
# Carla Boles, 28, of West Covina.
# Samantha Baldonado, 20, of Arizona;
# Dan Hahn, 34, of Pomona;
# Maria Morales, 31, of Cudahy;
# Michael Battle, 20, of San Bernardino;
# Karina Mitchell, 19, of Montebello;
# Eliseo Cabrera, 27, of Pomona;

FBI: Craigslist Used In Murder-For-Hire Case:
49-year-old Ann Marie Linscott of Grand Rapids Michigan was arrested for placing an ad looking for a hitman on craigslist.

The ad she placed offered $5,000 to "eradicate" an Oroville, California woman.

The woman in question was the wife of a man she was having an online affair with. The pair had actually met in person on more than one occasion.

I wonder if they found a dead rabbit on her when she was arrested.

Thanks to Soobs for the tip.

Robbery victims attracted through craigslist.org ad:
22-year-old Kennard Isaiah Love of San Jose, CA was arrested in Milpitas, CA on robbery charges. Love would place a craigslist ad for a car for sale then rob his victims when they would show up. In one instance Love pistol whipped his victim.

Arrested with Love was Keith Tyler Rucker, 23, of Manteca, CA who was wanted on similar robbery charges in San Jose and Santa Clara, Ca.