Mounties in Richmond are asking for the public's help to identify a suspect after a robbery in the city's Brighouse area.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the RCMP said a 38-year-old man was selling a luxury watch on Craigslist and arranged to meet the buyer in the 9600 block of Alberta Road on the morning of Jan. 4.
"When the 'buyer' arrived, instead of purchasing the watch, he allegedly robbed the seller at gunpoint," police said. "Richmond RCMP has exhausted all investigational avenues and is releasing a composite sketch in hopes that someone will be able to identify the suspect."
The suspect is described as a white man with a medium build and a full sleeve tattoo on his right arm. Police said he was wearing a camouflage hoodie, brown or gray pants and a baseball cap at the time of the alleged incident.
According to investigators, the suspect was last seen fleeing the scene in a dark-coloured, newer model Ford SUV.
Anyone with information that could advance the investigation is asked to contact Const. K. Rao at 604-178-1212 and quote file number 2019-471. Tips can be left anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
This isn't the first time classified ads have led to violence in B.C.
In 2004, A Vancouver man named Marc Rozen was killed in his apartment after he placed an ad in a local paper saying he wanted to sell an engagement ring worth $18,000.
Back in 2016, a 39-year-old man in Richmond was pepper sprayed and had the car he intended to sell on Craigslist stolen from him.
Police in Abbotsford have gone so far as to turn two parking spots in front of the department's headquarters into an "exchange zones" where people can safely carry out these kinds of transactions.
The Vancouver Police Department has also said members of the public can conduct Craigslist deals inside its headquarters.
With files from the Canadian Press
