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Teen suspects wanted in Houston Facebook Marketplace robberies
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Teen suspects wanted in Houston Facebook Marketplace robberies

Houston police investigators are asking for your help finding at least two teenagers accused of more than a dozen Facebook Marketplace robberies.

They are looking for help to arrest 17-year-old Arlando Lyles and 18-year-old Christian Pickett.

Police say Lyles is wanted for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and theft from the person (robbery) and Picket is wanted for one count of theft from the person (robbery). They say additional charges are pending.

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While two suspects have been identified, more people are believed to be involved.

HPD is currently investigating 15 such cases on the west or southeast sides. All of this takes place in either a park or an apartment complex, and quite a bit of it is repetitive, especially at the apartments on Cullen and Selinsky.

These suspects were accused of posing as sellers on Facebook Marketplace and robbing the victim when they meet at a certain location.

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In the first two cases, officials say the suspects assaulted the victims and then took their money, but now they’re using firearms to do the job.

They allegedly create fake profiles and make too-good-to-be-true offers to meet the victim at a location of their choice.

For this reason, Houston police detectives ask the public to only meet at a local police station when making an online purchase. They also recommend buying from profiles that have previous activity.

Police say the robberies took place at the following locations:

  1. September 21, 2024 at 3:06 PM at an apartment complex at 2400 S. Loop W.
  2. September 29, 2024 at 5:45 PM at an apartment complex at 2700 Woodland Park Dr.
  3. October 7, 2024 at 6:09 PM at an apartment complex at 5900 Selinsky.
  4. October 21, 2024 at 3:22 PM in a park at 7900 Rockhill.
  5. October 26, 2024 at 2:02 PM in an apartment complex parking lot at 3700 Faulkner.
  6. November 2, 2024 around 4:30 PM at an apartment complex at 10100 Cullen.
  7. November 8, 2024 around 5:30 PM at an apartment complex at 10000 Cullen.
  8. November 15, 2024 at 4:37 PM at an apartment complex at 5900 Selinsky.
  9. November 16, 2024 at 6:23 PM at an apartment complex at 10000 Cullen.
  10. November 17, 2024 at 3:56 PM at an apartment complex at 7100 Scott.
  11. November 18, 2024 at 7:35 PM at an apartment complex at 10000 Cullen.
  12. November 18, 2024 at 7:51 PM at an apartment complex at 5900 Selinsky.
  13. November 21, 2024 at 10:29 PM at an apartment complex at 10000 Cullen.
  14. November 22, 2024 at 3:20 pm in a park at 7900 Rockhill.
  15. November 24, 2024 at 4:09 PM at an apartment complex at 10000 Cullen.

Anyone with information about the investigation is asked to contact Crime Stoppers of Houston at (713)222-TIPS, online at www.crime-stoppers.org or through the Crime Stoppers mobile app.