Sheriff Warns Of Dangers Of Meeting Strangers For Online Buys

PALM HARBOR, FL — As deputies continue to investigate a robbery in Palm Harbor, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office is warning residents about the dangers of meeting strangers in person for online purchases.

Around 11 p.m. Wednesday, deputies responded to a robbery in the parking lot of the Target at 900 East Lake Road in Palm Harbor. According to deputies, a woman said she was attempting to sell her laptop through an online yard sale social media site and agreed to meet the potential buyer in the Target parking lot.

Deputies said the seller walked over to a vehicle with two women and a man inside and handed over the laptop to the woman driver to inspect. Once she had the laptop, the woman driver accelerated and tried to flee with the laptop.

The seller grabbed the vehicle door to retrieve the laptop and was dragged several feet, causing knee, hip, wrist and shoulder injuries that resulted in hospitalization.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office cautions residents about meeting with people they don't know for online transactions:

• Meet in a well-lit, populated parking lot during the day.
• If you do not feel right about a transaction, do not go through with it.
• Bring a second person with you.
• Meet and conduct the transaction in a law-enforcement parking lot.