Wichita teens targeted iPhone sellers on Facebook, stole phones and truck, police say
Wichita police say they’ve arrested two teens who targeted people selling iPhones on Facebook and robbed them with a BB gun during meet-ups where the sales transactions were supposed to take place.
The teens got away with the cellphones for sale and also a truck, Officer Kevin Wheeler said during a news briefing Friday. They were later arrested and are now facing possible criminal charges.
Jacqueline Devonte Beans, 18, was jailed on suspicion of two counts each of aggravated robbery, aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping, jail records show.
Wheeler said a 16-year-old boy was also arrested on suspicion of committing aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery of a vehicle.
Police say the victims had posted their cellphones for sale on Facebook Marketplace and were both robbed Thursday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
In the first robbery, an 18-year-old man told police he was held-up at gunpoint after agreeing to meet Beans at around 10 a.m. in the 1600 block of North Grove to sell an iPhone he had advertised for sale on social media, Wheeler said.
After the man turned over the phone for Beans to inspect, Beans pulled out a gun, Wheeler said.
“The victim then ran to his vehicle and left to contact police,” he said.
Less than three hours later — at about 12:40 p.m. — police responded to the area of 17th and Poplar, where a 35-year-old woman reported being carjacked in a parking lot. The woman told police she and two 15-year-old boys were there to meet a person wanting to buy an iPhone she had listed for sale online.
But instead of a smooth transaction, Beans and the 16-year-old approached her truck, pointed a gun at her and the boys, and told them to get out, Wheeler said the woman told police. The boys got out of the truck willingly, but the woman was forced out and battered, causing minor injuries that required hospitalization, Wheeler said.
Beans and the 16-year-old got into the truck and drove off, police said. Authorities later found the truck in the 2300 block of East 16th Street.
Wheeler said detectives and officers learned Beans and the 16-year-old were the culprits during their investigation. Police arrested the pair at their home in the 1600 block of North Grove on Thursday evening and found a BB gun they think was used in the robberies. They also found the stolen iPhones.
Wheeler said police are planning to present the cases to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
This story was originally published January 10, 2020 at 12:47 PM.
