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'Gravity kicked in': Ice foils alleged robbery in Vancouver

It was a slick getaway, but not in the intended way.
police-on-patrol
A man allegedly tried to rob someone during a Facebook Marketplace exchange in Vancouver but slipped on ice and dropped all the money.

Ice appears to be the crime-fighting hero in an attempted robbery this weekend in Vancouver.

The Vancouver Police Department is investigating an incident that started online and moved into the very cold real world on Saturday, Jan. 13, when a Facebook Marketplace meetup went wrong near the intersection of Kingsway and Inverness Street.

A 24-year-old man met up with a stranger in East Vancouver for the sale of an iPhone 15, VPD Sgt. Steve Addison tells V.I.A.

"(The victim) handed over $1,200 before realizing almost immediately that the phone didn’t work," explains Addison. "When he tried to get his money back, the person who sold him the phone tried to run away."

However, Saturday was very cold and sidewalks and streets across the city were a bit slippery.

"The suspect hit some ice, gravity kicked in and he fell, causing the cash to spread out for the victim to retrieve," states the VPD in a tweet.

Addison notes that while the victim was collecting the money, the alleged scammer assaulted him.

The suspect then fled the scene and is still at large.