CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Four teens are facing charges after a violent crime spree across Charlotte. Police say the group used the Letgo app to lure and attack their victims.
They are accused of robbing a hotel, several West Meck High School students and then, attacking and robbing unsuspecting buyers, according to CMPD.
Two of the robberies involved the Letgo app. Police said this is an example of why they created the zones across Charlotte to help keep exchanges safe. In the most recent case, the group posed as sellers on the Letgo app, but never had anything to sell. Police said the same gun connected the four in the Little Rock Road area.
(Izreal Johnson)
Police named one of the suspects, 16-year-old Izreal Johnson, but not the rest of the group because they are 15 years old.
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Police said the teens allegedly committed the crime in the Little Rock Road area.
This is not the first time we've reported on a case like this.
"Stranger danger has a whole new meaning nowadays," advocate Tara Finch said.
Her son Zach Finch was shot and killed in 2017 after he was set up for a robbery trying to buy a phone on the Letgo app.
Finch is a strong advocate for safe online transactions. The Finch Family, along with CMPD and QuikTrip, partnered together to create more than a dozen safe zones across the Charlotte area to keep exchanges safe.
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"If it can happen to us, it can happen to anyone," Finch said. "It sickens me. I taught middle school for eight or nine years where the kids are that age. I don't think the kids I was involved with would think those things. I don't know where this is coming from."
The Finch family has a foundation and website in honor of Zach to encourage others to go to safe zones for online transactions, but the mother thinks that's too dangerous, as well.
"I wouldn't if there is a deal online that seems too good to be true, it's probably too good to be true," Finch said.
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