Police in Miami-Dade County have arrested a man accused of armed robbery and kidnapping after a Facebook Marketplace phone sale turned violent outside a Doral apartment complex on Friday.
According to Doral police, the victim had previously completed a successful Marketplace deal for an iPhone with the suspect, who later contacted him about buying more phones. When the victim opened the passenger door of the suspect’s white BMW outside his apartment building, a second man who had been lying in the back seat sat up and pointed a gun at him, police said.
Police Chief Matthew Castillo said the driver, Lazaro Nunez-Martinez, 31, of Miami Gardens, drove off with the victim still held at gunpoint. The victim tried to escape twice and was strangled, Castillo said. As the car slowed near Northwest 66th Street and 78th Avenue, the victim threw the $4,000 he had brought for the purchase out the window.
After the victim got away, he received a threatening text from Nunez-Martinez, according to an arrest form. Nunez-Martinez faces charges including kidnapping with a firearm, robbery with a firearm and battery. As of Monday afternoon, he was held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center with bond listed as “to be set.”
Investigators have identified a second suspect, Darian Ernesto Morejon Rodrigues, 39, who remains at large. Police are asking the public for help finding him. Castillo said detectives are confident they will make another arrest.
