Santa Ana : Unclaimed Freight Sale Is Armed Robber’s Ploy

An armed robber is posing as an employee of Yellow Freight Systems Inc. and offering some unbelievable bargains in video recorders, microwave ovens and auto supplies, according to the trucking company.

“We’d really like to let people know about this scam and alert them that there is a real possibility for violence,” said Steve Hobson, a security investigator for the Kansas-based Yellow Freight.

Hobson said the man, who has used the names Joe and Mike, telephones a potential mark--usually a business--and says he has unclaimed freight he is willing to sell.

“Just by the prices he’s asking, you have to know it’s been stolen,” Hobson said, adding that the caller tells the buyer he will need a big truck to handle the merchandise.

On April 8 and 9, the man called two automotive parts stores in Santa Ana offering good deals on batteries, antifreeze, oil and spark plugs, Hobson said. Although he called several times, he never set up an appointment to deliver the goods, so the owners of the stores called police.

On April 10, the man moved north to Downey, where he struck a deal to sell the recorders, television sets and ovens. When the would-be customer and a co-worker kept a rendezvous at an Arcadia shopping center, showing up with a truck and $4,150 collected from their fellow workers, they were robbed at gunpoint.

Since the Downey robbery last week, however, there have been no further incidents, Hobson said.

Santa Ana police said the businessmen who were contacted in that city were told to try to set up a meeting with the man.

“Right now, we can’t do much of anything because nothing’s happened,” a police spokesman said.

“They were just phone calls.”