VICTORIA -- A Victoria family is being credited with holding down an attempted thief after a man tried to steal a woman's cellphone under the false pretenses of buying the device.

Victoria police say the incident occurred Wednesday evening after the woman arranged to sell her cellphone to the man online. The would-be thief met with the woman and some of her family members that accompanied her, in the food court of Hillside Shopping Centre at approximately 6:30 p.m. 

Once the deal began, the man asked to examine the phone and once it was handed over to him, he turned and fled. Police say that members of the woman's family then gave chase, and were able to "capture and restrain him." Once officers arrived, they were able to take the man into custody without incident. 

VicPD says that the "snatch and dash" theft was similar to an incident reported earlier the same day. 

According to police, just after 1:30 p.m., officers were called to reports of a robbery in a progress on the 2200-block of Quadra Street. 

When officers arrived, the suspect had already fled from the scene and the victim told police that the incident started when they had arranged to sell their used iPhone 10 to a man through Facebook Marketplace.

In a similar move to the Hillside Mall attempted theft, the man who arrived to examine the iPhone abruptly fled once they had the phone in their hands.

In that theft, the suspect is described as a black man who was wearing a black windbreaker, red bands and a beige backpack at the time.

Following the two similar crimes in one day, Victoria police has released several safety tips for people who may be looking to purchase or sell items online.

  • Police suggest holding the deal in their headquarters' lobby at 850 Caledonia Ave. The lobby is open and available for use between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.
  • If the other party won’t meet you in a public location or our lobby, don’t meet them.
  • Bring friends or family members with you when arranging the exchange.
  • Where possible, use more than one method to communicate with the person you are selling to or buying from.

Victoria police are asking anyone who may have seen either incident to contact their non-emergency line at 250-995-7654, or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.