Man arrested after Craigslist seller is pepper-sprayed and robbed of iPhone
Costa Mesa police Thursday arrested a man suspected of using pepper spray to rob another man after meeting him about buying an iPhone, according to authorities.
A 45-year-old Huntington Beach man was trying to sell the phone on Craigslist and set up a meeting with a potential buyer near the CarMax in the 3200 block of Harbor Boulevard in Costa Mesa around 6 p.m. Wednesday, police Sgt. Mike Manson said.
When the buyer arrived, the seller handed him the phone so he could look at it, according to police. After the buyer inspected the phone, he handed it back, pepper-sprayed the seller in the face, grabbed the phone and ran, police said.
The seller tried to chase him but couldn’t because of the pepper spray, police said.
A few minutes later, a witness who had seen the assault noticed the robber driving nearby, police said. The witness snapped a photo of the man and his license plate, according to authorities.
On Thursday morning, police found the car in Anaheim. It was empty, but detectives waited with the car until they saw a man who matched the robber’s description, police said.
Police arrested the man on suspicion of robbery.
Authorities identified the suspect as Steven Patino, 20, of Anaheim. He was booked into Orange County Jail with bail set at $50,000, police said.
Police said they haven’t been able to find the stolen iPhone but found other evidence related to the robbery when they searched Patino’s car.
Jeremiah Dobruck, jeremiah.dobruck2@latimes.com
Twitter: @jeremiahdobruck
