CHICAGO — A lengthy investigation by Chicago police detectives resulted in the arrest this week of a man believed to be responsible for eleven armed robberies, all targeting victims who were lured into traps via Facebook Marketplace ads.
Marketplace meetups, where two parties who don’t know each other consummate the sale of online merchandise, can be risky. CPD invites people to complete online exchanges at their district police station to decrease the risk. But, as CWB reported last month, at least one recent police station rendezvous ended with robbery, too.
In the latest development, prosecutors charged 19-year-old Emerson Watson, Jr., with robbing nearly a dozen people at gunpoint in six separate Marketplace meetings between September and December 2024. One victim was robbed of $8,000 in cash that he brought to buy an item offered for sale on Facebook. Others lost $2,800. One lost $1,500. Prosecutors said digital data, vehicle information, and other evidence point to Watson’s involvement.
Watson was on juvenile probation for armed robbery when the holdups occurred, Judge Deidre Dyer said as she ordered him detained this week. Dyer concluded that the “scope and randomness of this crime presents a threat to all citizens.”
He’s charged with robbing:
- two men of $8,000 in the 1100 block of North Menard on September 13
- a man of $1,500 in the 1100 block of North Menard on November 29
- a man and a woman of $2,800 in the 1100 block of North Menard on Chris
- tmas Day.
- two men of $2,800 in the 1100 block of North Menard on December 26
- a man of $2,800 in the 8600 block of South Phillips on December 27
He’s also charged with trying to rob three men in the 8600 block of South Phillips on December 30.
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