Four teenagers were arrested Tuesday after police said they robbed a man they met online after arranging to buy a computer from him.
The incident occurred Monday evening at a home in the Waterford subdivision in Griffin, police said in a news release.
According to authorities, a man showed up to the home carrying a custom computer that he listed for sale on the Letgo app after agreeing to let a potential buyer plug it in and try it out first.
When he arrived to the home on Tuscany Lane, a 16-year-old standing on the front porch invited him inside, police said.
When the man entered the home he was greeted by three other teens, one of whom was holding a rifle, according to Griffin police.
The suspects took the man’s computer and forced him to empty his pockets, authorities said, stealing about $400 in cash and some credit cards from his money clip.
When the robbery victim walked out of the home, a friend who accompanied him to the meet-up saw the suspect’s rifle and pulled out his own gun, police said. After realizing the other man was armed, the teens grabbed the computer and ran from the home into some nearby woods while the victim called police and described his assailants, authorities said.
Griffin detectives eventually identified and arrested all four of the suspects. Three of them are juveniles between the ages of 14 and 16, police said. They were taken to a youth detention center.
The fourth suspect was identified by police as 18-year-old Jonathan Higgins Jr., who lives in the subdivision. He is charged with one count each of armed robbery, aggravated assault, theft by taking and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
The computer and most of the cash stolen during the robbery was recovered and returned to the victim, authorities said.
In a Facebook post, Griffin police encouraged residents to arrange in-person sales outside the police department to avoid getting ripped off or robbed.
“We would like to remind the public that they should always be cautious when meeting people they do not know and they should avoid going to locations that they are not familiar with to prevent becoming the victims of such crimes,” police wrote.
Higgins remains held without bond at the Spalding County Jail, online records show.
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