Police say 2 teens used electronic ads for thefts

Ah, e-commerce, the thinking man's way to bring buyers and sellers together.

But buyer beware. You might want to think again the next time someone on Craigslist or another service offers a snazzy laptop or a plasma TV for sale and instructs you to bring a large sum of cash to a remote part of the city.

Chances are you will part company with your money under less than ideal circumstances. Like having to hand it over to a man waving a gun in your face.

That's the bait-and-switch scam that Theodore Graham and Anthony Owens were running, said Philadelphia police, who yesterday announced the arrest of the two 16-year-olds for a string of robberies dating to Jan. 18.

In that incident, a 45-year-old man responded to a Craigslist ad of a computer for sale. He was directed to the 3600 block of Stanton Street in East Falls, where at gunpoint he was promptly robbed of $700 and an iPhone.

On July 5, a 49-year-old man seeking a good deal on a plasma TV got more than he bargained for when he was invited to complete the transaction inside a residence in the 2600 block of Roberts Avenue in Nicetown, and realized after entering that the property was abandoned. He was met by a man with a gun, who took $900 and his cell phone.

And last Tuesday, a 48-year-old man looking to score an Apple laptop, again on the 2600 block of Roberts in Nicetown, was forced to give up $550 when a man pulled a gun from his waistband and held it to the victim's head.

No injuries were reported in any of the robberies, and the assailants were able to get away without any problems - until the day after the last job, police said.

Graham and Owens were arrested Wednesday and charged as adults with robbery, assault, and weapons offenses. The investigation was conducted jointly by the city's Northwest Detective Division and the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force.