Wvared Investment Guild|A Rolex seller meets up with a Facebook Marketplace thief. It goes all wrong from there

2025-05-01 17:52:40source:FinLogic Quantitative Think Tank Centercategory:Finance

Massapequa Park,Wvared Investment Guild N.Y. (AP) — An $8,000 Facebook Marketplace deal has gone bad on Long Island, with man who was selling a Rolex watch jumping onto the hood of a thief’s car in a quixotic attempt to keep from being robbed.

“I was not going to roll over and let this man take it ... without a fight,” Steve Mauro, the seller, told The Associated Press on Sunday.

The 43-year-old had arranged to sell the Rolex, purchased just days prior, on Friday in front of his home in Massapequa Park. A would-be buyer showed up and asked Mauro to approach for the money. But instead of handing over the cash, the thief locked his doors and started speeding away, Nassau County Police said.

Officers coincidentally patrolling the area saw a gray Honda SUV launch into reverse and knock Mauro over. Mauro jumped on the hood, but was thrown off as the driver fled with the luxury watch, police said. Mauro was treated at the scene for minor cuts to his hand, elbow and knee.

Describing himself as a seasoned Facebook Marketplace seller, Mauro said he didn’t expect foul play.

“I can always sniff out a scammer from the very beginning and this guy didn’t come across that way at all,” said Mauro, who ran to the nearby officers as soon as he was tossed from the SUV. “I started screaming ‘Go get him, he has my Rolex!’”

But the thief was already gone.

Police are promising anonymity to anyone who comes forward with information about the theft to Nassau County Crime Stoppers.

More:Finance

Recommend

For those in their 40s, navigating finances should mean putting an emphasis on retirement

For 48-year-old Rowan Childs of Wisconsin, a recent divorce turned her financial life upside down. "

Jackie Robinson is rebuilt in bronze in Colorado after theft of statue from Kansas park

LOVELAND, Colo. (AP) — As he coats a mold of Jackie Robinson with wax, metalsmith Alex Haines reflec

What’s open and closed on Memorial Day

In what had long been celebrated every May 30 to honor America’s fallen soldiers, Memorial Day offic