San Jose police arrest 3 in online marketplace meetup robberies

(KRON) — Three San Jose men who allegedly robbed one victim of their shoes and another victim of their watch during back-to-back online marketplace meetups have been arrested, police announced Wednesday. Both strong-armed robberies occurred within about an hour of each other on June 11 in San Jose.

At 9:10 p.m., officers responded to the 500 block of Heritage Avenue on the report of a robbery. The victim told police that they were selling a pair of shoes for $480 to a person whom they communicated with through an online marketplace. Three people arrived in a vehicle before one person got out, pushed the victim and stole the shoes. The suspects then fled the scene in the vehicle.

Another robbery was reported to San Jose PD around 10:15 p.m. from a parking lot on the 4900 block of Cherry Avenue. In that incident, the suspects forcefully stole a watch valued at over $3,000 before assaulting the victim and fleeing the scene, police said.

Detectives identified two suspects as 19-year-old Isaiah Esquibel and 19-year-old Osvaldo Diaz Gomez. The third suspect was a juvenile at the time of the alleged crimes and was not identified by police.

Esquibel was arrested on Aug. 19 in San Jose. Authorities said a search of his residence uncovered a loaded firearm.

Diaz and the juvenile suspect were arrested on Aug. 22 in San Jose. A search of the juvenile suspect’s residence located a loaded firearm and firearm parts, police said.

The juvenile suspect, who had turned 18 years old by the time of his arrest, was initially booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail before being transferred to Juvenile Hall. Esquibel and Diaz were booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for the robberies and firearm-related charges.

SJPD is reminding the community to meet in public places when buying or selling online, never go alone and trust your instincts.