Three Alabama fans who were looking to go to the National Championship Game Monday night were robbed of $2,000, and they weren’t about to let the thief get away with it.
On Sunday, Bryant Gentry and his two brothers purchased two tickets to the game for $1,000 each from a man they found on Craigslist. They had planned to find another ticket outside the stadium on Monday night. When the men returned to their hotel room and examined the tickets, they noticed some indications that the tickets were counterfeit.
“We came to the conclusion we had been burned, and we’re blessed enough with good jobs where we could replace that income, but we started thinking about all the other people he was probably taking advantage of and it made us mad,” Bryant Gentry told Anastasia Dawson of the Tampa Bay Times. “What if some little kid’s hopes of going to the game were dashed?”
The Gentry brothers did not let it go. Instead, they contacted the scalper, 20-year-old Joseph Steven Escalera, on Craigslist again using different information and arranged to meet up with him for another ticket transaction. One of the brothers had taken a selfie with Escalera the first time to be safe, and they recognized him right away. So the brothers physically subdued Escalera and waited 10 minutes for police to arrive.
But as scalper Joseph Steven Escalera began the transaction, his customer’s two brothers snuck up from behind. One pinned Escalera to his chair, pinching a nerve between his neck and shoulder while holding a long, cold object to the back of his head. The other two took his shoes and socks, as well as six tickets to that night’s game they found tucked in Escalera’s waistband.
When Tampa police arrived, they arrested Escalera.
Escalera was charged with fraudulent possession of admission tickets and grand theft. Unfortunately, the Gentry brothers did not get their $2,000 back and had to watch the game with other fans at their hotel lobby. But being that they are Alabama fans, they didn’t mind missing out on the heartbreaking loss.
We’ve seen some funny stuff happen with Craigslist ticket listings, but there’s nothing humorous about conning people out of money. Escalera ended up behind bars where he belongs.
H/T Dr. Saturday
