Defensive or an avoidable confrontational situation?

[mobbology]

I have to admit, he handle this matter on his own without the help with the authorities like a boss. I honestly don't think the authorities would be much help in providing immediate results. The scammer obviously guilty. But is this a bad idea? I can imagine this would not pan well in court if he had to defend himself against the scammer. Its obvious the printing was strong to get the results he wanted.

Any CCWers thoughts on this situation in California? This incident happened in Texas.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=77f_1434472334

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Details of the Video:

Austin Craigslist Scammer Given Two Choices
From OP: Back story, I purchased an iPhone for my wife for $560 from a person
named "Zeke" on Craigslist. Upon activating on AT&T by inserting the
SIM, our entire account was suspended. Apparently the iPhone he sold me
was stolen and that's all AT&T would tell us.

When buying
the phone, my assistant who picked it up told me he had several in his
vehicle, so I wrote him another email claiming I also wanted an iPhone
and he agreed to meet me back in the same parking lot the next day.

He ended up "refunding" me a total of $700 dollars (watch his counting). If he shows up to sell you a phone in Austin, beware!

[BarrettM99]

Always let LE handle things they're trained to handle. Trying to handle this situation like a boss, he could have a hundred ways this could have gone terribly wrong.

He could've had a bunch of guys with him, he could've had a firearm or other weapon, any number of things could have happened. Law enforcement would have dealt with him appropriately without risk to the victim.

Also, had he used physical violence, he could be in trouble with the law. If deadly force was used, he could possibly get charged with any number of crimes such as manslaughter or adw...etc...the prosecutor could make it seem like the victim was looking for trouble by setting up a meet and carrying a weapon to the location (if armed) and basically acting like its a LE sting operation...a vigilante. It could also demonstrate premeditation and planning when he could have otherwise as easily set up the meet with the criminal and had LEOs be there for the transaction or LEOs could have dealt with the guy directly.

So, any number of things could have gone terribly wrong for the victim. He was lucky that it went down the way it did. It's never a good idea to handle things like this yourself when you can set the criminal up to be taken down by law enforcement.

[mobbology]

Always let LE handle things they're trained to handle. Trying to handle this situation like a boss, he could have a hundred ways this could have gone terribly wrong.

He could've had a bunch of guys with him, he could've had a firearm or other weapon, any number of things could have happened. Law enforcement would have dealt with him appropriately without risk to the victim.

Also, had he used physical violence, he could be in trouble with the law. If deadly force was used, he could possibly get charged with any number of crimes such as manslaughter or adw...etc...the prosecutor could make it seem like the victim was looking for trouble by setting up a meet and carrying a weapon to the location (if armed) and basically acting like its a LE sting operation...a vigilante. It could also demonstrate premeditation and planning when he could have otherwise as easily set up the meet with the criminal and had LEOs be there for the transaction or LEOs could have dealt with the guy directly.

So, any number of things could have gone terribly wrong for the victim. He was lucky that it went down the way it did. It's never a good idea to handle things like this yourself when you can set the criminal up to be taken down by law enforcement.

thank you for your valuable insight BarrettM99. I was part of this type of situation in which LE would not help due to the fact there is no proof my transaction when I was scammed. This was my early days of craiglisting.

[North Bay Guy]

My friend who was being really stupid got himself into a similar situation. What he was doing was, responding to ads on Craigslist for IPhones. Then he would really low-ball the seller and get phones like $40. Then he'd resell the phones for like $200, buy more phones and repeat. Everything was fine until one day he was woken up by a LEO at his front door. One of the buyers some how got caught trying to activate a stolen phone or something and tipped off the LEO's, they tracked my friend down with a vehicle description. So LEO shows up at my friends house and says, is that your car? My friend said, yes. LEO, put your hands behind your back you're under arrest. He was arrested for selling stolen goods, on a grand level, grand theft or something similar.

My friend never actually stole anything from anyone, he bought all the phones and resold them. I believe the DA charged him with something then later decided to drop the charges. It's fair to say he won't be trying that stunt again. So yes LEO's can be very helpful in these situations. I'm assuming the original person who reported the phone missing got it back.

[Decoligny]

My friend who was being really stupid got himself into a similar situation. What he was doing was, responding to ads on Craigslist for IPhones. Then he would really low-ball the seller and get phones like $40. Then he'd resell the phones for like $200, buy more phones and repeat. Everything was fine until one day he was woken up by a LEO at his front door. One of the buyers some how got caught trying to activate a stolen phone or something and tipped off the LEO's, they tracked my friend down with a vehicle description. So LEO shows up at my friends house and says, is that your car? My friend said, yes. LEO, put your hands behind your back you're under arrest. He was arrested for selling stolen goods, on a grand level, grand theft or something similar.

My friend never actually stole anything from anyone, he bought all the phones and resold them. I believe the DA charged him with something then later decided to drop the charges. It's fair to say he won't be trying that stunt again. So yes LEO's can be very helpful in these situations. I'm assuming the original person who reported the phone missing got it back.

It's one of those things where your friend should have known that someone selling a $400 or $500 phone for $40 wasn't someone who was just looking to upgrade to the newest model. They were most likely an addict looking for their next fix, and selling anything they can get their hands on to make enough for the next high. Pretty much anyone with a half ounce of gray matter between their ears would realize that they were receiving stolen property.

[jbj]

How do people buy a phone without checking the ESN or IMEI?


Sent from 80ms in the future
Much peace
Jimmy

[VictorFranko]

Lesson learned: never buy a phone from a guy in a parking lot that has more oil in his hair than in his crankcase.

[P5Ret]

My opinion is that he is lucky to have gotten out of there with his money back, and without getting his azz handed to him. Crooks working deals involving cash rarely work alone, and this could have gone horribly wrong real quick. Having a gun and someone with a camera doesn't make you superman, and you still need to be aware of everything around you, especially when dealing with someone who has already ripped you off once.

[roostersgt]

I just saw on the news a story about some kid and his father "tracking" the sons lost cell phone. They went to the tracked location and were approached by several thugs in a car. After an argument the car drove off with the son chasing after them. The son tried to open one of the cars doors and was shot and killed.