*STOLEN* AP Barrichello 2 titanium #942

[mspeed76]

so the thief contacted me from chrono24, he was local in Los Angeles and wanted to meet at a jewelry store in Manhattan Beach to verify the authenticity and then pay me at a bank on the same block.

After I met him at the jewelry store, we walked inside and I opened the box to show him and the jewelry store employee. The employee looked at watch briefly to inspect it, and the thief said "Let me take a look" He handed it to him and the thief turned around and bolted out through the open door like Usain Bolt, down a small street to a running car ( a black camaro ) that was waiting for him a few blocks away and they sped off. I tried to run after him but he was probably twice as fast as I was.

The police came really quickly and took fingerprints as he touched the glass display case and the papers, and he was recorded on surveillance video. They searched for the car for awhile to no avail.

Most likely the watch has already been sold to a pawn shop, and I reported the theft to AP.

In retrospect, I had my doubts about the guy while talking to him on the phone. But I figured since he wanted to meet a place with cameras, it was legit. On the way there, I passed by a police car that was parked a block away from the store and my mind just wasn't in the right place. I thought if he was going to try anything, it would be when we were outside the store and walking to the bank. It was during broad daylight and many witnesses. It happened so quickly.

I hope this story will prevent something like this from this happening to them. I feel pretty foolish for not being more careful.