La Romaine robbers luring victims with online car ads and fake profiles

A SAN JUAN couple who went to Lucky Street in La Romaine to buy a car yesterday evening luckily escaped being robbed by two gunmen.

It was the fifth incident of a similar nature in less than two weeks where men in La Romaine lured their victims with fake online car advertisements. The other buyers were not so lucky as the gunmen stole thousands of dollars intended for the purchase of cars.

Southern Division police are warning people not to respond to advertisements from the La Romaine district. The criminals are creating fake profiles and do not have any vehicles, police said.

Police said the latest victims, a man and his wife, saw an advertisement on Facebook and responded to view and purchase the car.

On arrival at Lucky Street at about 6.30 pm on Wednesday, a gunman flagged down the car.

When the car stopped, the gunman switched off the ignition. The wife ran off while the husband and the gunman fought.

The incident occurred in full view of passers-by and the gunman and an accomplice ran off empty-handed.

Cpl Crawford, PCs Maharaj and Charles of San Fernando CID together with police of the Southern Division Task Force visited the scene and searched for the suspect.

An arrest is yet to be made.