Man robbed during meeting to sell vehicle in east Lincoln, police say

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Two men are on the run after a Sunday night robbery in east Lincoln, police say.

Around 7:30 p.m., a man was robbed during an arranged meeting to sell a vehicle near 48th and Adams streets.

The victim, a car dealer, had agreed to meet the suspects at his car dealership after hours, according to police.

Police said the two robbers stole tens of thousands of dollars from the victim and left in a black Chevy Malibu, which was found disabled near 87th and Adams streets.

Officers searched the area with the help of a Nebraska State Patrol helicopter but could not find the robbers.

Police described the robbers as men in their 30s.

One is about 6 feet tall with a skinny build and glasses.  The other man is about 5-foot-6 and has a heavy build, according to police.

One Lincolnite, Jada Logans, said she sells clothes through social media and often meets up with strangers to make sales.

She said she’s been in multiple frightening situations.

“I had one person who I thought was going to be a teenager my age, and they ended up being 47,” she said. “So I was kind of like ‘Oh, never mind. This sale is no longer happening.'”

She said another time, she and her friend went to make a sale but drove away after they noticed something was wrong.

“Me and my friend both saw, ‘Oh this is not who we thought it was,'” Logans said. “So kind of a, ‘Oh, let’s get out of here’ moment.”

She’s not sure if selling things online is worth sacrificing her safety.

“It makes me want to not sell things anymore because it’s like, if I’m going to have to worry about my safety every time I go off to hand things off to somebody, it’s kind of a, ‘Is it a bigger hassle than it’s really worth?’ kind of thing,” she said.

Another man said he sold items online often and fake profiles used to ask him to meet up.

He did extra research and found that the profiles were trying to scam him.

A user of the NOW Local News App, Christopher, said he only meets strangers in public.

“I’ve gone through an experience where I had someone come to the home, and the process left me a little bit uneasy,” he said. “I personally try to always meet in a public area just to minimize and mitigate any risk involved.”

Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call police at 402-441-6000 or Crime Stoppers at 402-475-3600.

This is a developing story. Check with Channel 8 for the latest.