Man tried to sell tinned tuna instead of PS3

Police in Salisbury, North Carolina, say a woman almost lost her money when a Craigslist seller tried to pull a fast one. Authorities say the woman thought she was buying a PlayStation, but instead almost ended up with a bag of canned tuna. "I opened the bag and it was just a blanket with tuna cans," she said. Police identified the so-called seller as 29-year-old Russell Dylan Musgrove, of Kannapolis.





The victim said she agreed to meet Musgrove in the parking lot of the Arby's in Salisbury after seeing the Craigslist ad online. "It said he was selling a PS3 with a pink remote control for $60 because he was in a bad spot." The ad implied he was out of money and out of gas. It assured potential buyers the offer was "legit," and along with offering a "bill of sale," the seller was willing to go with the buyer to a store to plug in the system to make sure it works. The victim immediately sensed something was wrong.





"I said can you open the bag and show it to me? He said 'if you don't give me the money, I don't give you the bag,'" she recalled. The victim says Musgrove initially told her he was looking out for his interests, making sure he didn't get scammed, and that was why he wanted to make sure she had the cash on her. She says Musgrove was in his car with his engine running, and snatched one of the three $20 bills she had in her hand. "I said, 'just give me my money back,' and he said, 'no that is the price for opening up the bag,' I was like, 'what?'" The victim's boyfriend, who was waiting in the car, managed to write down the suspect's licence plate number before he drove off.


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The victim also snapped a photo, which shows the man partially covering his face inside the vehicle. "It turned out the picture that was pulled up through the DMV actually matched the picture she had taken off her cellphone," said Captain Shelia Lingle with the Salisbury Police Department. Lingle says the victim did the right thing by not showing up alone and meeting him in a public place during the day. A more ideal meeting location, she says, would have been inside the restaurant, or a building with surveillance cameras and witnesses. Musgrove remains at the Cabarrus County Jail following his arrest. He also had an outstanding warrant in Rowan County for possession of heroin.