Rochester police are investigating a robbery today after an arranged sale through Craigslist ended with the theft of trading cards from a collectible game.
Law enforcement responded about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday to the Apache Mall parking lot. There, a 40-year-old Iowa man told them he'd met a man to sell him $1,600 worth of "Magic: The Gathering" playing cards.
The two had been exchanging text messages throughout the day, said Capt. John Sherwin, to arrange the sale. The victim said the two met and were discussing the cards; when the man turned around to attend to something in his vehicle, the suspect grabbed the cards and ran off.
He got into a rusty white pickup, the complaint says, where another man was waiting.
As the officer was taking the victim's report, the owner of Hobby Goblins, 297 37th St. NE, contacted police.
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The owner said that throughout the day, he'd been speaking with a man who was planning to bring in some Magic the Gathering cards. The man, accompanied by another man, had indeed come in to sell the cards, the report says.
Not long after the men left, the victim called the store to say he'd just been robbed of the cards and to warn him that someone may try to sell them. The owner paid the men $600 for the items.
The man who took the cards is described as a black male, 25-30 years old with a small build and close-cropped hair.
The cards were returned to the victim, Sherwin said.
