JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A man is in custody after two incidents of meeting people on social media and later robbing them, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said Wednesday.
Michael Sanders III, 18, faces two counts of armed robbery. Sanders executed the robberies on Jan. 12 and Jan. 21, Waters said, and that they were almost identical.
Waters said robbery spree was ended before it escalated.
In both incidents, Sanders posted on a social media marketplace for a sale of a mobile phone, set up time and place, and then robbed the person by taking cash or forcing the victim to use CashApp.
The first robbery at gunpoint occurred at Victory Point Apartments, 6750 Ramona Blvd, according to an arrest report. Sanders and two other men arrived at the deal, but Sanders agreed to the victim paying $100 through CashApp up front, then paying the remaining $100 later once the phone had been unlocked by the carrier. After the robbery the suspects fled on foot, police said.
The second robbery occurred at 707 Talking Tree Drive, where two victims were robbed at gunpoint.
Sanders used the handle "Tim Junior." with the url “junior.mike.1447" for the transactions, police said. The report said crime analysts provided screenshots showing Michael Sanders III on a jail video call laying on the same patterned blanket as was shown in one of the Facebook Marketplace listings on the same Facebook profile “Tim Junior.”
Detectives were able to match items in the room that of the accounts Sanders used, the report stated. Sanders was arrested on Jan. 24.
Waters warned of using social media marketplaces and urged people using the platforms for transactions to use official JSO substations. A list of the sub
"These cases provide me with a unique opportunity to caution citizens in our community, this is a huge deal for us. Increasingly we are using social media marketplaces for transactions," Waters said. "I urge you to set the location for these transactions at police substations in each of our six districts. If these transactions are conducted in daylight hours in the presence of law enforcement, there's a strong possibility they will devolve int o a robbery is very very low."
Check out which JSO substation is closest to you.
