A 17-year-old girl who had planned to meet up at a San Bernardino Target to try to sell a cell phone was hit by a car in the parking lot and had to be flown to a nearby hospital, according to KTLA.
The event happened on Monday night, with the teen, who has not been named yet, setting up the possible sale to happen at the 12795 Main Street Target in Hesperia.
Authorities say the possible buyer, who was said to be a woman, took the phone from the teen and ran inside the store.
The girl chased the woman out of the store and hit her with the suspect’s car.
Detectives couldn’t say if the suspect had any other helpers in the car before it hit the girl because they didn’t have enough information.
Video from the scene showed the teen being put on a bed and then flown to a nearby trauma center by helicopter. It wasn’t clear right away what was wrong with her.
People who shop at the Main Street Target in Hesperia often told Shelby Nelson of KTLA that hearing about the chaos at the store was scary.
Lisa Rey, who lives in Victorville, said she tries to avoid going to the store in the evenings because of things like this.
“Things are worse up here,” she said. “You have to be constantly more alert and careful.”
Police all over Southern California have been telling people to be careful of scams, especially when using online marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace and Offer Up to set up meet-ups or trades.
Authorities say that people should only meet people who want to buy or sell things in safe places, like the hallway of their local police station.
“I buy things online or pick them up in-store,” Rey said. “Private sales scare me.”
Detectives from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department wouldn’t say how many people they are looking for or if anyone has been caught.
Anyone who knows anything about what happened should call the Sheriff’s Department.
