A in which a man was shot Monday night after responding to a Craigslist ad was likely a drug deal gone bad, according to Lakewood police.
The victim, who has not been identified, was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The ad, characterized by Lakewood police , prompted buyers to drive to 26th Avenue and Pierce Street.
Two men answering the ad pulled over in a green 1998 Ford Escape, according to a Tuesday news release by Steve Davis, Lakewood police spokesman.
A short time later a small white sedan occupied by a man and a woman, pulled up behind the SUV, Davis said.
A man described as about 25 years old, got out of the white car, walked over to the SUV and ordered the two men to get out.
The suspect then shot one of the two men in the SUV while he was still in the car.
Both victims then climbed out of the SUV.
The female robbery accomplice then climbed into the SUV and drove away. The shooter got in the white sedan and also drove away.
“Further investigation suggests that the Craigslist ad and the encounter were very likely drug related,” Davis said.
The stolen SUV has Colorado license plates: QKL-268.
“I think its important the public know that the ad and the transaction were both illegal in nature,” Davis said.
A certain percentage of advertisements on Craigslist are crime-related including drug and prostitution cases, but most are not and people shouldn’t be discouraged from doing business on the Internet, he said.
He suggested that people take precautions such as not meeting strangers at their homes. People conducting a legal Craigslist transaction should meet in the or in a busy commercial parking lot, Davis said.
“We don’t discourage anyone from meeting in our parking lot. Don’t meet people at night in an odd location or in a poorly lit area and make sure someone else knows about this,” he said.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, kmitchell@denverpost.com or @kirkmitchell
