Robbery suspects at large with at least 15 victims lured on Facebook Marketplace, Houston police say

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Houston police are investigating a Facebook Marketplace scheme with at least 15 victims, and the suspects have yet to be caught.

According to the Houston Police Department, the suspects post online ads for gaming systems and shoes.

Once the victims showed up, they allegedly robbed them at gunpoint.

Some of the victims included a family.

One of the suspects, Arlando Lyles, allegedly pulled the gun on the mother while her 15-year-old son was just a few feet away. The father was in the car with their 8- and 10-year-old, who took cover.

"When I was about to reach, he goes like this and pulls out the gun," 15-year-old William Bernal said.

Bernal said the gun was then turned on his mother, who had the cash for a Play Station 5 they were trying to buy.

"I thought he was going to actually shoot the gun," Bernal said.

Prior to the robbery, Bernal's mom chatted extensively with the seller, and they agreed to meet at some apartments on Cullen Boulevard in south Houston. Their conversations were primarily in Spanish.

The person who did this was smart, Carlos Hernandez said, Bernal's dad.

He said when the family got there, the seller spoke no Spanish at all. Hernandez said his intuition told him to drive away, but he didn't.

The seller then demanded to see the $250 before letting them look at the merchandise.

"I got off the car then my mom got off the car and when I was about to open it, he reached into his pocket pulls it out then aims it at mom like to giver him the money and then he ran with the PS5 too," Bernal said.

Hernandez never put the car in park. He said that had the man shot at his wife, he was prepared to run him over.

According to Bernal, someone else held the door so that Lyles could run back towards the apartments.

HPD said they are looking for a second suspect, identified as 18-year-old Christian Pickett. They are also investigating at least 14 robberies across Houston believed to have been committed by the same people.

Hernandez said it comes as no surprise, given just a day after the robbery, the family contacted the same seller on a different account to see if he was targeting other people.

He allegedly gave them the same meeting address and said, "It's cash in hand, ma'am. I just recently had a lot of bad experiences, not anything toward you."

"It just proves to me not to trust anyone on the internet," Bernal said.

According to court records, HPD discovered it was Lyles by tracing his Facebook account and showing the family photo lineups.

As a father, just one day out from Thanksgiving, Hernandez is grateful everyone will be present at the dinner table.

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