Springfield man believes armed robbery was tied to Facebook Marketplace purchase

(KY3)
Published: Dec. 6, 2019 at 11:00 AM CST
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Police are investigating an armed robbery at a Springfield house that the victim believes was connected to a Facebook Marketplace transaction.

The robbery happened this week near Phelps Grove Park.

Erik Phillips says he answered the knock on the door around 2 p.m.Tuesday, expecting to see a friend. But it was a man and woman, saying they had some extra screws for his roommate. He later learned his new roommate had made a TV stand purchased off Facebook Marketplace. The sellers delivered the stand the day before.

The seller had sent Phillips' roommate a message saying, "found the screws for the mount. Do you want or need them? "

Phillips says the real reason they were there was to steal his phone, PlayStation 4, his backpack full of yoga gear, his running watch, his rent money and all his keys. It all happened while he was being held at gunpoint.

"So I was like, I'll just take the screws," said Phillips. "You don't have to help, or whatever. And that's whenever the guy, who's standing kind of off to the side, pulled the gun out of his jacket and forced his way into the house. Then he pretty quickly had me on the ground, facing oh, just looking straight down but kind of looking up toward my hands a little bit and he hit me I think twice maybe, with the butt of the gun."

Police are still looking for the man and woman who came in the house, and Phillips says another person drove a getaway car. He says ironically, he was supposed to sign a new lease on the house the next day. But, instead he'll be moving.

Law enforcement recommend meeting at a public place, well lit place with plenty of people around for transactions from sites like Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.

"If something were to go wrong, if you were to yell or set off your car alarm or something along those lines, it would get their attention," says Captain Mark Staeger of the Greene County Sheriff's Office. He says also try to take someone with you.

The Springfield Police Department even invites you to do so right out in front of the police station.