Woman robbed while selling items outside Prunedale grocery store
A woman was robbed in Prunedale after meeting up with a man she intended to sell items to.
The incident happened outside of the Super Max grocery store on San Miguel Canyon Road, Sunday morning.
According to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, the suspect, Matthew Wilhelm grabbed the victims stuff and ran inside Super Max. Wilhelm reportedly ran towards the back of the store with a knife and demanded an employee unlock the back door.
Susan Martin is a Prunedale resident and familiar with the buy, sell, trade pages.
“This kind of thing, that’s just flat scary. You know, that’s why people when they buy online, they meet in a public place to try to avoid dangerous situations. But apparently it didn’t work in this case, did it?”
Officials say these sellers did everything right. They met in a public place during the day.
But an added layer of security never hurts. Apps like “OfferUp” take an extra step.
“Look at their profile. What is their reputation? What are people saying about them? Look at their rating,” says Sarah Parker, Head of Community Safety at OfferUp.
There are also place that provide safe meet-up areas. While the sheriff’s office does not have a designated spot, officials tell us people are more than welcomed to meet in the lot there.
Another suggestion from offerup…
“We want you to tell somebody you’re going to meet with them. I always tell my husband ‘hey I’m going to this exchange and I’m going to be meeting with this person at this date and time,'” says Parker.
And Martin’s suggestion…
“Honestly, more people need to get a ccw and arm and protect themselves.”
