PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Two Massachusetts men who came to Providence Friday night to buy a MacBook computer advertised on craigslist encountered an unpleasant surprise when they arrived to meet the seller.
Upon arriving at 84 Virginia Lane in Wanskuck shortly before 10 p.m., they got out of their truck and were accosted by four men, one brandishing a handgun and another a knife. Ryan Boucher, 31, of Swansea, and Jonathan Villanueva, 31, of New Bedford, were robbed of $1,000 in cash, two cell phones and their wallets.
The victims gave chase after they were robbed even though two of their assailants were armed. When they got to the driveway of 37 Anchor St., the man with the gun ran to a vehicle that was parked in the driveway but fell and hit his head on the pavement. He kept the gun pointed at Boucher, but Boucher told the police that once it became clear the gun was not loaded, Villanueva was able to take the weapon from the man. Boucher pinned him to the ground until the police arrived, according to the police report.
At the scene, the police found Lateef Yusuf, 18, on the ground bleeding from the head. He was charged with first degree robbery. He was taken by rescue to Rhode Island Hospital for treatment of his head injury. As he was being put in the rescue, items that had been stolen from Boucher fell out of his sweatshirt, the police reported.
The three other robbers are still at large.