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Alleged Playstation thief caught in stingJul 04, 2009 (The Kansas City Star - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A 21-year-old Kansas City man, already suspected this week of robbing one Cragslist.com seller of a Playstation, ended up behind bars Thursday after a Kansas City police sting allegedly caught him trying to steal another. Charles Bates, now in jail, was charged Friday with second-degree robbery. Police said Bates showed up Thursday in a parking lot near the Truman Sports Complex in response to a Craigslist.com ad to sell a Playstation video game system. Earlier in the week, on June 30, another Kansas City resident had his Playstation stolen when the buyer responded to his Craigslist ad. Instead of paying, the thief fled with the Playstation in his car. The seller was injured when he chased and grabbed hold of the vehicle. Days later, police from the robbery unit received a call from another Playstation seller who said he was suspicious of the young man responding to his Craigslist.com ad. He asked police if they were aware of any recent Craigslist.com robberies. Indeed, they were. The cell phone number of the alleged buyer was the same as that given by the individual who had stolen the Playstation earlier in the week. Police with the Metro Property Crimes set up the sting, arresting Bates when he showed up Thursday at the parking lot. "He tried to scam us, saying he needed to take it somewhere to check it out," Robbery Unit Sgt. Chris Lantz said. Moreover, Bates allegedly paid with counterfeit money. ------ | Eric Adler, [email protected] To see more of The Kansas City Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.kansascity.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Kansas City Star, Mo. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |