The Columbian | Serving Clark County, Washington

Vancouver, WA — A 21-year-old Vancouver man was attacked by two teens Wednesday afternoon as he chatted with another teen about buying a broken iPad he planned to repair, police records show.

The purported exchange was set to take place in the parking lot of the Safeway grocery store located at 3707 Main Street. As the victim met with the professed seller shortly after 3 p.m., he was struck behind with the flat end of a skateboard.

Two attackers, one in a white T-shirt and the other in a white tank top, shouted at the victim, directing him to hand over “all his money,” records show.

The victim stepped away from his gray Dakine backpack and left. He went inside the Safeway and called 911.

He told police he buys broken electronics on Craigslist and repairs them. The backpack contained a brown folder with receipts from his transactions and his wallet, made of duct tape and pop cans, according to the police report. The victim told police the sale-turned-strong-armed robbery was arranged when he received a call from a blocked number, according to police records.

A witness who watched the assault unfold climbed in her car and followed the teens as they took off northbound on F St. with the backpack. She made contact with two of them near East 39th Street and Interstate 5.

She shouted to them, one of the teens in a white shirt and the seller, who wore a red T-shirt and toted a pink “Dora the Explorer” backpack, before watching as they disappeared on a dirt trail between H St. and the freeway.

The witness told police she could identify the teens if she saw them again. The suspects were described as white males, about 16 or 17-years-old.

Police recovered the victim’s brown folder on the trail. His wallet, including his driver’s license and debit card, remains missing.

The victim was not seriously injured. The Vancouver Police Department asked that the victim's name not be released while the suspects remain at-large.

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