A Facebook Marketplace deal in a highly secured and monitored location still ended in a brazen theft, according to North Texas police.
It happened in the Carrollton Police Department parking lot.
The accused thief didn’t get far. Carrollton Detective Juvensio Vazquez said he was notified of the incident the next morning.
“When I read it, I’m like: Come on. In front of the police department? But, it’s alright,” Vazquez said. “I just can’t believe it happened, honestly.”
The theft happened around 10 p.m. Tuesday. Police said the victim had arranged to sell two flashy watches—each listed for about $900—through Facebook Marketplace.
The seller and buyer agreed to meet in the department parking lot, though not in the designated safe exchange zone.
“It happened right over here, and as you can see, there’s a camera right on the corner of the building that captured the entire offense,” said Vazquez, showing NBC 5 the lot. “The cameras are really good high definition. Very good resolution on the camera and it also gives us 360 wide-angle angle of the police department.”
Carrollton police have two parking spaces marked as safe exchange zones for online transactions. In this case, the seller parked elsewhere in the lot—still a secure area, police said.
“They came here, which is totally fine, but in this case, the only thing that was suspicious about it was that the guy shows up and parks across the street,” Vazquez said, pointing to the U.S. Post Office nearby.
The victim stepped out of the car, which police encourage so that transactions remain visible on surveillance cameras.
Police said the buyer asked to try on the watches, then ran off and jumped into a waiting car with a second suspect. Surveillance and license plate reader cameras captured the vehicle.
“He was located in Cooke County,” said Vazquez. “One of the individuals, and that’s where we found the property.”
Dallas County jail records show 18-year-old Patrick Berryman is in custody on a theft charge. Police body camera footage shows that one of the luxury watches was recovered. The second watch and the second suspect remain missing.
While the seller took several appropriate safety steps, Vazquez said there were red flags that others should keep in mind.
“If [buyers or sellers are] walking up to a location, that’s not a good idea,” he said. “You can always say, ‘No, let’s meet inside.’ This building remains open to the public.”
He also advises against nighttime deals and recommends bringing someone with you.
Sellers should verify that cash is not counterfeit, and if using payment apps, confirm that transactions go through before handing over items.
“You’re never wrong for asking someone for collateral,” Vazquez said. “If you’re going to sell a watch, a cell phone, a PlayStation device—we have people out here selling Pokémon cards—if you’re going to do that, ask to hold something.”
