A man accused of posting items for sale on Craigslist and then robbing the victims when they met has been arrested in San Antonio.
One of the incidents reportedly occurred in Tucson last December, police say.
Eduardo Cordero, 22, is currently being held in San Antonio and Tucson police were working to get a warrant for his arrest on Wednesday.
Tucson police gave the following account of the incident that occurred here on Dec. 17:
A motorcycle was put up for sale on Craigslist for $3,500. Three people from Sierra Vista came to Tucson to see the motorcycle and met the seller at a restaurant near Starr Pass and Interstate 10.
The seller showed up without a motorcycle and pulled a gun on the victims. Another man who was with the seller pulled out two guns.
People are also reading…
The gunmen forced the victims back to their vehicle and demanded the money that was going to be used to pay for the motorcycle. They also took wallets and other items from the vehicle before getting away.
Weeks later on Jan. 9 in San Antonio, police there received a report of a similar incident in which a victim was robbed of $4,000 when he went to meet someone who was selling a motorcycle on Craigslist.
In this case, the seller and the victim met at a Home Depot and then went to an apartment complex where the seller said the motorcycle was located, according to a police report from the San Antonio Police Department. He was also robbed at gunpoint.
San Antonio police would receive another report three days later of a robbery with similar circumstances.
In that case, one of the gunmen told the victim, “Sorry I had to do it, but hard times bro,” a report said.
That victim also lost $4,000.
San Antonio police began investigating and were able to obtain phone records that led back to Tucson, said Sgt. Mark Robinson, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.
San Antonio police contacted Tucson police and that’s when the two agencies connected the cases.
Tucson detectives traced the phone number that San Antonio police obtained to a woman in Vail who said she bought something from a man named “Justin,” Robinson said.
She told police she paid for the item with a check but was told to make it out to Eduardo Cordero, Robinson said. The check was cashed by Cordero with a valid ID.
Tucson Police contacted San Antonio authorities and alerted them that Cordero may be their suspect, Robinson said.
San Antonio police were able to locate Cordero at a home in San Antonio and arrested him.
Both agencies conducted photo lineups and the victims were able to identify Cordero as one of the gunmen.
Another 21-year-old man has also been identified in the Tucson heist and a warrant is being obtained for his arrest, Robinson said. He is believed to be in Tucson.
Cordero was arrested in Tucson days after the Dec. 17 robbery in connection with an unrelated drive-by shooting on Dec. 22, Robinson said.
He and the 21-year-old were arrested but both were released from jail.
At the time police were not aware of their connection to the robbery.
