BATAVIA, N.Y. — From Craigslist to Facebook Marketplace, there are plenty of choices when it comes to selling your unwanted stuff online. A recent robbery; however, has police reminding people to make safety a priority when meeting up with potential buyers.
The Batavia Police Department is looking for a robbery suspect who met up with people at the Batavia Pizza Hut parking lot Friday night to potentially buy things they were selling online. Instead of going through with a legit sale, the suspect, who was armed with something other than a gun or a knife, is accused of robbing the victims.
They weren't hurt, but Batavia Police want to remind everyone about the SafeTrade Program. It's popular all over the country with several spots in Western New York.
Cheektowaga joined it in 2017.
"We had a case where a guy was selling his sneakers," said Lt. Brian Coons in 2017. "They met face to face, and the guy saw the sneakers, stole the sneakers, and pushed the guy down, and took off running. So, now he was out the sneakers. We also had the same thing with cell phones."
A SafeTrade Station is a safe area to exchange money and items people are buying or selling online. Cheektowaga's is in the police department's lobby, so you know you're being watched by surveillance cameras the whole time. Batavia's is also at police headquarters in the back at 10 West Main Street. The City of Tonawanda has a SafeTrade space, too. You'll see two designated parking spaces at the police department there.
The Internet Exchange Zones are monitored 24/7. And, there's no need to make an appointment.