I don’t know if you’ve ever bought or sold anything though craigslist.com. I’ve completed a few transactions via the site and have had good luck. But I’ve followed a couple of self-imposed rules. The most important is that I was always met the other party either on my own turf or, preferably, a neutral public place. There’s no way to know who’s placing or answering your ad or what they may have up their sleeve. Marine Lieutenant Colonel Karl Trenker hadn’t thought the process through that far when he agreed to meet a potential buyer for his fiance’s gold chain…
Then again, Trenker’s looks like he can take care of himself. He’s ripped and probably figured no one would mess with him. After all, he’d made it though multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan without being “shot or blown up.” From dailymial.co.uk:
He said the confrontation with the robbers took place after his girlfriend Tanta Siaz advertised a gold chain for sale on Craigslist. The U.S. Marine said he volunteered to carry out the sale and drove to an apartment complex to meet the potential buyers. As he showed off the necklace one of the men shoved him and grabbed the jewellery.
The two thugs took off with the necklace and that’s when Lt. Col. Trenker made mistake number two. I don’t know what that necklace is worth, but it couldn’t have been worth what happened.
Lt Colonel Trenker said he chased after the two men when one of them turned round and opened fire, hitting him multiple times. He said he plugged the bullet holes (with his fingers) while calling his girlfriend on his cell phone and calmly telling her: ‘I’ve been shot.’
We’re glad that Trenker will be OK after some major surgery and should be able to resume his duties at the Southern Command HQ. The police quickly apprehended James Flournoy and Jeff Steele, the shooters, who will be whiling away some quality time thanks to the generosity of the Sunshine State’s taxpayers.