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.”
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Moral of the story is these kids should not have committed the crimes they in my opinion should be charged to the fullest extent
In every way it is entrapment by definition they did lure them into potentially commit a crime and get arrested for it. That still is not a defence they would not be charged with any crime on the night that the officer met up with them. Well they would get possession of stolen property at the very least and the charges of robbery would have to still be proved that they were involved
en·trap·ment
noun \-mənt\
: the act of entrapping someone or something or the condition of being entrapped
: the illegal act of tricking someone into committing a crime so that the person you have tricked can be arrested
This was good police work. The officer put the ad out, and the perpetrator willingly answered the ad. These punks were not entrapped because they were already involved in robbing people. No one tricked them into robbing.
Anyone who thinks these punks should get off of the charges, needs to be monitored by the police because they are obviously probably part of the crime problem in this county.
It’s called entrapment.
Not even close!
It’s called good out of the box thinking police work that stayed well within the guidelines.
Entrapment is when you give someone a shotgun, then say “I’ll pay you to cut the barrel off”. The police neither provided goods, or intent, just the opportunity to get caught.
I was kind of wondering about how that works, Bobby. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard where a case involving an adult male trying online to hook up with a 13-year-old girl for sex and finding that he was dealing with a decoy cop instead getting thrown out for entrapment.
Entrapment is a defense that applies when the police get you to do something you would not have ordinarily done. These dopes were already involved in robberies before CPD went onto Facebook.
Even if these people might be able to use entrapment to get out of the charge they were busted on, Don’t matter, they can’t use that loophole on the other two robberies. The real moral of the story, kids, is that if you don’t rip people off in the first place, you probably won’t need to either know your rights or lawyer up.
And sorry to break it to you, Lucky, but Merlin is staying on. BTW, he’s not the Chief of Police, he’s the City Manager.
Such young kids. know your rights and don’t talk to anyone but your lawyer. What the police did was illegal. It’s called entrapment.
This man killed an unarmed person a couple years ago and I believe law enforcement setting up false Facebook accounts is entrapment and the case will be dismissed if he doesn’t get a court pretender. This case is full of holes just like the guy McKnight shot and killed.
And don’t let the door kick him in the behind!
Way to go Chehalis PD! Looks like things are going OUR WAY now that McReynolds is on his way out! YIPPIE!
WAY TO GO CHEHALIS PD! Looks like things are clicking right along now that McReynolds is out the door. YIPPIE!
Way to go Sgt. Wilson! You HAVE been around town for a good run! Nice to see you can nail these arseho’s! 😉 proud! 😉
Yes I agree. Carry and have a friend off at a distance and meet in public during the day.
I have been selling on Craigs list and Facebook for years and have never had a problem. You need to use your head and meet in a busy spot and in the daytime, take someone with you and a 9mm always helps. Great job to the officer.
That is why I carry when meeting anyone for dealings.
Craigs list and facebook meetings to buy/sell are inherently dangerous.
Well done McKnight!