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Soldier arrested in craigslist robbery
[January 04, 2013]

Soldier arrested in craigslist robbery


Jan 04, 2013 (The Gazette (Colorado Springs - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A Fort Carson soldier was arrested after he allegedly used Craigslist ads to lure victims to pick-up spots where he and an accomplice robbed them at gunpoint, according to an arrest warrant.



Fort Carson officials detained Spc. Hayward Goldsborough, 24, and he is being held in the El Paso County jail on a $10,000 bond. His alleged accomplice, Nicholas Guerra, is being sought by police.

Colorado Springs police connected Goldsborough with a string of cellphone robberies in late November and early December, during which he allegedly sought to buy or sell an Apple iPhone 5. On Nov. 30, just before 11 p.m., Goldsborough met with Stefan Murphy, who had agreed to sell Goldsborough an Apple iPhone5 after Murphy posted an ad on Craigslist, according to arrest documents. When Goldsborough and Murphy met at a pre-arranged meeting point, Goldsborough looked over the phone while a second man, later identified as Nicholas Guerra, allegedly stepped from behind a dumpster and pointed a gun at Murphy, and said, "Give us what you have." Guerra and Goldsborough then fled, the arrest affidavit said.


On Dec. 1, a similar robbery was reported to police by Daniel Portnova, who claimed that his Samsung Galaxy 3 phone had been stolen at gunpoint during an exchange set up through Craigslist. Portnova told police that he arranged to exchange his phone for an iPhone5, but when he handed his phone over to the prospective exchanger -- believed to be Goldsborough -- another man ran up to him, pulled a gun, and said, "Give me all you got." A day later, Goldsborough was using the iPhone5 to set up deals. After finding what he believed to be an ad for his stolen phone on Craigslist, Murphy arranged a meeting with the phone's seller at an apartment on Sandalwood Drive in Colorado Springs. The seller later changed the meeting to a parking lot at 1425 S. Murray Blvd. Murphy watched the seller drive up and get out of his car, and saw that he matched the description of Goldsborough.

Investigators later discovered that the Sandalwood Drive apartment belonged to Goldsborough. They also traced the location of Goldsborough's phone calls on the stolen phone to the locations of the robbery.

Goldsborough began his Army service in August 2009 and was assigned to Fort Carson in May 2010. He deployed to Iraq for several months in 2011. Brunswick, Ga., is listed as his home of record.

He was assigned to the Forward Support Company of the 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division, said Loran Doane, a Fort Carson spokesman. His deployment was brief because he arrived in Iraq late, and returned home with his unit, he said.

___ (c)2013 The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Visit The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) at www.gazette.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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