Trial Looms in Robbery of Craigslist Advertiser

A Southeast Washington man is about to stand trial in D.C. Superior Court for allegedly robbing a man trying to sell wheel rims on the Internet.

Jury selection began yesterday in the case against Andre Miller, 19, who is accused of finding his victim on Craigslist. At least two additional cases involving people who allegedly targeted Craigslist users are also before the court.

"Some folks out there are using the site to search out victims, and the cases are becoming more serious," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin P. Friedman, a spokesman for the attorney general's office.

In Miller's case, the victim was trying to sell four 22-inch chrome rims for $1,600. Via e-mail, plans were set up for a meeting Jan. 27 on Georgia Avenue in Northwest. There, the victim and a friend were shown a wad of money and told that the payment would be made if they took the car to an alley in Southeast Washington, prosecutors said.

Once in the alley, prosecutors said, Miller and two accomplices robbed the pair at gunpoint, taking the car, the wheel rims and their cellphones and wallets.

Kenneth Jones, 18, pleaded guilty this month to robbery, weapons and other charges. Another defendant, Robert L. Johnson, 19, is awaiting trial. All three defendants are from Southeast Washington.

In pretrial proceedings yesterday before Judge Russell F. Canan, Miller's public defender, Dana Page, contended that there is no evidence putting her client at the scene at the time of the robbery.

Last month, a Southwest Washington man pleaded guilty to robbing a man who responded to a Craigslist ad offering stolen iPhones, prosecutors said. Eugene Chapman, 24, placed the ad in November and then robbed someone who came to make a deal, prosecutors said. He is awaiting sentencing.

Today, a preliminary hearing is scheduled in what prosecutors say is the District's first sexual assault case involving the Web site. Edgar D. Romero, 23, of Silver Spring is charged with assaulting a woman at knifepoint in a District hotel in December. She had advertised escort services on Craigslist, they said.

He also is charged in a separate case. Prosecutors said that in January, he attacked a woman he met through an escort ad on Craigslist. He allegedly pulled out a gun, bound her with duct tape and robbed her.