Craigslist Car Deal Followed by Canby Assault

Police say the story illustrates the need for caution when dealing with strangers online.

(CANBY, Ore.) - Clackamas County deputies responded to an attempted robbery in Canby that they say highlights an important public-safety lesson: Don't give your address to strangers over the Internet.

At approximately 12:23 AM on Thursday, David Eby and his wife Marilyn were driving home to their residence in Canby after a long evening spent trying to meet up with someone from whom they thought they would be buying a vehicle.

Mr. Eby had negotiated this deal with individuals they'd met through the online-classifieds Web site Craigslist, and had provided his home address during e-mail and phone correspondence with a complete stranger.

The Ebys were never able to find the person with whom they'd negotiated the deal -- despite numerous cell-phone calls and driving to multiple meeting points in search of the seller. As they returned home, they reportedly found an object blocking the road to their home on S. Good Lane.

Mr. Eby moved the object and got back in his Toyota Tundra, and just as he got back in the vehicle, a man reportedly wearing dark clothes and a ski-type mask ran toward his window, yelling something.

This man began hitting the Tundra's driver's-side window with a metal object and smashed out the window, causing a small laceration on the left side of Mr. Eby's face.

Mr. Eby placed his vehicle in drive and sped away, and the suspect reportedly fled. Fire and law-enforcement personnel responded, checked the Ebys' residence, and conducted an area check and K-9 track, but could not locate the suspect.

Deputies interviewed Mr. Eby, and learned that he had responded to an ad he'd seen on Aug. 28th on the Seattle-Tacoma Craigslist site, http://seattle.craigslist.org/, for a vehicle.

Mr. Eby also provided his home address to the seller who reportedly would drive the vehicle down to his residence from Washington State. He reconsidered this, and they arranged by phone to meet in two different locations here in Oregon. The seller was not found at either location, prompting the Ebys to return home, where they were assaulted.

Police say this investigation is ongoing. The incident has been referred to Detectives of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. Further information will be supplied when available.