Craigslist allure goes awry for Akron couple

Photo

A screen shot taken on Craigslist on Wednesday, March 31, 2010. Some information has been blurred out. A man and his girlfriend went to see the car in this ad, but told police when they gave Antonio "Ace" Tucker the money, he started running. Police charged Tucker with theft and forgery after learning that the car belonged to Tucker’s girlfriend. Tucker pleaded innocent to the two felony charges Wednesday in Warren Municipal Court.

Staff report

WARREN

Two 18-year-olds from Akron got less than they bargained for Tuesday night when they came to Warren to buy a car they saw advertised on the Internet site Craigslist.

Today they are out $590 in cash, and the seller is in the Trumbull County Jail charged with two felonies.

Garnell Sheppard and his girlfriend contacted Antonio Tucker, also 18, of Milton Street Southeast, by telephone Tuesday to buy a maroon 1997 Chevy Lumina, and Tucker persuaded them to drive to Warren that night to look at the vehicle.

The pair met Tucker, who called himself “Ace,” at the Pit Stop gas station on Youngstown Road about 10:45 p.m., and Sheppard agreed to buy the car for $590.

Sheppard gave Tucker the money, and Tucker gave Sheppard the title, but when Sheppard asked for the car keys, Tucker “started running,” according to a Warren police report.

Sheppard chased down Tucker, but Tucker took off his coat with the money in it and gave the coat to a boy, who went to a house on Kenilworth Avenue with it, police said.

Police charged Tucker with theft and forgery after learning that the car belonged to Tucker’s girlfriend.

Tucker pleaded innocent to the two felony charges Wednesday in Warren Municipal Court and is being held in the Trumbull County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bond.