By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Four young people have been arrested after two instances of “buyers” snatching and running off with items from individuals selling through Facebook.
A 20-year-old woman who arranged to meet up with a purported buyer at W.F. West High School after dark on Monday night lost a gold necklace and matching bracelet to a male she only knew as “Tyler Frank Best”.
The night before, a 16-year-old boy was going to sell a bicycle frame to an acquaintance on Southwest Chehalis Avenue, when a male he did not know approached him, grabbed the bike and threatened him with brass knuckles.
In both cases, the victims noticed a white car nearby, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
Officers suspected 19-year-old Andrew Gastfield was involved as that was who the 16-year-old boy intended to meet near Thorkbekes, according to police. And the boy said after the incident, he followed the male through a field and saw him put the bike in the white car; and also saw Gastfield was one of two or three other people in the vehicle as it passed, according to court documents.
By Tuesday night, Chehalis Officer Matt McKnight had set up a Facebook account under a fictitious name, and arranged to meet Gastfield to purchase a cell phone, according to police.
Charging documents say police waited in Wal-Mart’s parking lot. Detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said the meet took place at K-Mart.
Gastfield said he’d be in a white T-Bird and when it arrived, officers arrested a 16-year-old girl, a 17-year-old boy, 19-year-old Gastfield, and the driver, 24-year-old Matthew B. Meyer, according to authorities.
Charges of robbery and theft are pending for each of them, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
Said Wilson: “I want people to be leery of these meetings.”
“Meet in a well lit, if not daylight, at least crowded, places,” he said.
When McKnight searched Gastfield, he found in his pocket a yellow gold necklace and matching bracelet, according to court documents; and in Meyer’s car, police found a set of brass knuckles.
Not all of the suspects were booked that night, and not all of them were present at each of the two robberies, according to Wilson. But he suspected if they’d have continued, someone would have gotten hurt.
“They were starting to have fun with it,” he said. “(And eventually), either they’re going to do something, or they’re going to meet up with the wrong person.”