'Offer-Up' sale turns into robbery in Shenandoah

Shenandoah police were sent to the Home Depot at the intersection of Interstate 45 and Tamina Road around 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017, after a man trying to sell an iPhone 7 was robbed at gunpoint. Shenandoah police were sent to the Home Depot at the intersection of Interstate 45 and Tamina Road around 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017, after a man trying to sell an iPhone 7 was robbed at gunpoint. Photo: Google Maps Photo: Google Maps Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close 'Offer-Up' sale turns into robbery in Shenandoah 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Police are investigating the robbery of an Offer-Up seller Thursday in Shenandoah.

Police were sent to the Home Depot at the intersection of Interstate 45 and Tamina Road around 6 p.m. after a man trying to sell an iPhone 7 was robbed at gunpoint. Detectives with the Shenandoah Police Department said the robber swiped the phone from the seller's hand and ran away.

The seller ran after the robber, detectives said, who turned around and pointed a gun at the man. The robber jumped into a four-door Chevy passenger car and drove away before the seller could call police.

Officers with Shenandoah and Oak Ridge North as well as deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office converged on the area within minutes but were unable to find the car or robber.

Shenandoah Police Detective Sgt. Joel Gordon said Offer Up users, as well as those on any other online meet-up marketplace, should be cautious when selling or buying items. Gordon said the seller from Thursday's robbery was right to meet in a public place, like the Home Depot parking lot, but still became a victim.

"(Users) can use any photograph they pick off the web to put as their profile picture," Gordon said. "It may not be them. You don't know who you're dealing with."

That was the case with the robber on Thursday. Detectives looked up the person in the photo used by the robber, but it turned out it was a fake – instead belonging to an out-of-state motivational speaker who was cleared of the crime.

The Shenandoah Police Department offers residents to use their parking lot to perform online transactions. Assistant Police Chief Barry Gresham said they will not likely have officers stand by and observe the exchange, but doing so at a police department can deter crime, he said.

The department is located at 29955 I-45 in Shenandoah between Wellman Road and Shenandoah Drive on the southbound side of the freeway. Anyone with information on Thursday's robbery is urged to call the department at 281-367-8952.