Posted on 06/04/2007 3:01:19 PM PDT by devane617
A McLennan County man was shot to death late Sunday in northeast Dallas while trying to buy a vehicle he may have found on the Internet, police said.
Police are trying to determine if the killing was a setup or random.
Christian Marton, 21, of Axtell, died at Baylor Medical Center, where he was taken after the shooting at about 9:15 p.m. Sunday in the 8900 block of Vantage Point in far northeast Dallas. Axtell is about 14 miles northeast of Waco.
"He had been talking to some people by the Internet and the telephone about purchasing a vehicle,’’ said Lt. Vernon Hale, police spokesman.
Marton and a companion subsequently went to Dallas Sunday evening to meet the sellers on Vantage Point, Hale said. The area is southwest of the intersection of Greenville Avenue and Interstate 635, also called the Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway.
"They came up to that location and it ended up that someone tried to rob them,’’ Hale said. "A suspect demanded money and shot (Marton).’’
Police are trying to identify suspects in the case.
"We don’t know if it was the people trying to sell it to him or somebody saw him sitting there waiting for them,’’ Hale said.
The title never came, the seller has disappeared out of state, and the whole ownership of the car is in question.
"The pair arrived at the location where the used car was located, the 8900 block of Vantage Point in north Dallas, and were met by a man standing in the road with a gun."
"The victim reached for a concealed weapon and was shot, police said. The man was then transported to Baylor Medical Center in Dallas, where he later died."
I just bought a boat on Craigslist. Happy to report transaction completed with no shots fired. However, with respect to stolen vehicles, I did notice one vehicle which turned out to be stolen, right here in our little town.
Bought a jetski and sold a go-kart last month with no problems.
Gotta keep those concealed weapons in easy reach.
That said, it’s always a gamble and you take your chances.
Or after coming to an agreement, meet inside your bank; a plus is that you can also use bank's notary service to finalize the sale.
Nobody walks in or out with cash, and it is very visible; safe for all involved.
With all due respect to you and your daughter, you daughter sounds like she might well have let herself get scammed by just about anyone in any venue whatsover, sleezy or not. Paid cash and didn't get a title? Come on!
Kid in my neighborhood bought my old Rabbit about two months ago. Gave him a Bill of Sale and told him I’d have to get a duplicate title.
I still have the title as he has yet to come back by and pick it up.
I’ve bought and sold auto related items over the Net. Never, ever would I agree to meet someone at their house. Always a public place. And a firearm is always close by.
the seller told her he would send her the title in a few days and she could pay the last $100 when the title was delivered. She believed him.
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Uhhmm..The seller can claim she stole the car and get it back. Titleholder=Owner. Hope she learned.
I had a guy try to buy a car from me, he brought a cashiers check made out to HIM. He said, just cross off my name and write yours in.
I said, let’s go to the bank (1 block away) and cash it.
He balked.
His wife mouthed off.
I chased them from my home.
I was armed.
The end.
especially in TX.
Wow !
That was me. I really wanted to buy your car.
I recall reading recently that the murder rate is going up in Texas over recent years. I never thought I’d call the state “soft on crime,” but clearly the measures being taken now to fight violent crime aren’t working. Rick Perry better brew something up, quick.
It doesn’t happen to people use some common sense when shopping on the Internet. Who buys a car from some random person they met on the Internet? Ever hear of cars.com? You can find any car you want from a legitimate dealer, and purchase it at that dealer’s location. Totally apart from the extreme outcome of this case, the likelihood of ending up with a stolen car is huge in a scenario like this.
Occasional murders in that area, but not a particularly bad part of town.
>The car wasn’t technically stolen ‘cause the driver was given the keys.<
So if someone goes to a dealership, test drives a car and doesn’t come back, it’s not technically stolen?
Good grief.
>Who buys a car from some random person they met on the Internet? Ever hear of cars.com? You can find any car you want from a legitimate dealer,<
Well, the guy who bought a car from us bought it off the internet. Not only that, he saved a whole lot of money, because there was no huge dealer markup. And, we didn’t get robbed trading a good used car for a fraction of it’s worth.
Oops, make that, “of its worth”.
What exactly is the difference between this scenario and buying a car from a private individual through an ad in the classifieds or one of those little car shopper mags?
Which millions of people do every year.
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