Woman gets robbed in grocery store parking lot while trying to complete Facebook Marketplace deal
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Granite City, Illinois (KMOV ) — Jessica Derossett says she’s covered with scratches and bruises from a Sunday morning robbery in the parking lot of the Granite City Schnucks.
“It’s vicious, it’s vicious,” she said.
She says around 10:30 a.m., she went to the store’s parking lot to meet with a man wanting to buy an iPhone she was selling on Facebook Marketplace. She says her suspensions grew when he arrived with two other people and started asking her random questions.
“And I was starting to get aggravated because I was like, ‘Look man, I’ve already told you this stuff,” she said.
After that comment, Derossett says he attacked her.
“He came right up on me, he grabbed me, he grabbed the box we struggled,” said Derossett.
She says onlookers helped before calling 911. Granite City police say they arrested the man, who was with two other people not far from the scene. Once inside the suspect’s vehicle, Derossett says police found multiple suspected stolen items.
Derossett says she’s been selling items on sites like Facebook Marketplace for at least eight years and thought she was in a safe space. Back in October, another Metro East woman was robbed at gunpoint after trying to sell a car on Facebook Marketplace. Scammers also tried selling unlisted homes on Marketplace.
A Metro East woman says she almost fell for a Facebook Marketplace scam that could have put her out almost $700.
Cyber experts say these types of crimes have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic as more people are shopping and selling online. Sites such as Experian list tips on how to protect yourself when buying and selling online.
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