OCALA, FLORIDA — A serial Craigslist robber got more than he bargained for when he attempted to rob a pair during what was supposed to be a transaction set up on the website Craigslist.
The suspect, 26-year-old Jeffrey Tyrone Smith, responded to an ad that was looking for vehicles to purchase that needed to be repaired. A pair of men drove to meet Smith after he responded to the ad, saying that he had a truck he would like to see them. They picked Smith up from a gas station and were receiving directions from him as to the location of the truck.
There’s red flag #1. I would never pick someone up that I had just met through Craigslist. You might as well pick up a hitch hiker. Anyway.
They arrived at a house and got out of the vehicle. The one man retrieved his firearm from the center console before getting out. Smith and the man’s friend had already walked around the side of the house, and that’s when he heard yelling and then noticed his friend hunched over as if he had been punched in the stomach.
As it turns out, his friend had been stabbed.
Smith then began to go after the other man, and that’s when he pulled out his firearm and shot Smith. The man called 911 and left with his friend, fearing that someone may come out of the house.
The man stabbed was taken to the hospital and listed in stable condition. Smith was also taken to the hospital and listed in the same condition, and will be heading to jail after his release.
This isn’t the first time that Smith has been shot at during an attempted Craigslist robbery.
Detectives said Smith committed a similar incident on April 1 in which he is accused of robbing a man and his grandson of $1,800 in cash and cellphones. Authorities say Smith told them he wanted to sell them a Dodge pickup truck for $2,500. Detectives say Smith held a knife to the throat of the younger man and robbed them.
One of the victims in that case fired a shot at Smith, but he escaped unharmed. Smith was picked from a photo lineup by one of the victims in that incident.
In and out of jail for most of his life, Smith’s latest release was in August of 2014. Since then, he was arrested on March 5 for possession of cocaine and on March 23 was charged with false imprisonment, as well as committing these two crimes.
Some people never learn. Luckily, we have armed citizens who refuse to be victims.
