JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Springfield man trying to sell his SUV on Craigslist said that the man who test drove the vehicle stole it everything inside.
Jeffery Kuper said he was trying to get money to buy a headstone for his son who recently died, so he placed an ad on Craigslist to sell an old SUV. Kuper said a prospective buyer showed up and went with him on a test drive.
"Well, he had the cash the whole time in his hand, visible to where I could see it," Kuper said.
Kuper said the man wanted to stop at an auto parts store and have his friend check out the car.
"It didn’t dawn on me at the time that maybe this guy going to try to rip me off," Kuper said..
It was at the store where they both got out of the car and went inside--except the thief asked Kuper to grab some oil from another aisle.
"I turned around, and the guy was gone," Kuper said. "I chased him out the door only to see my vehicle pulling out of advanced auto parking lot."
Gone with it was nearly $1,500 worth of tools Kuper uses for work. Kuper called police, but so far, he has had no luck tracking down the suspect.
"I have no tools. I have no way to buy my son a headstone," Kuper said. "So (it) really put me in a predicament."
We asked former JSO Officer James Brown about this type of crime, and he had the following suggestion if you use Craigslist or other services.
"He probably should’ve done a little bit more to ensure that the odds were in his favor," Brown said. "The best way to do that is to obtain a driver’s license, verify phone numbers and the best bet is to have someone else go along with you."
Kuper also warned against using Craiglist to sell a car.
"If you post something on Craigslist, be aware there are some bad people," Kuper said.