Regina police urge caution after seller bear-sprayed during meet arranged through online marketplace

The Regina Police Service is urging people to be careful when buying from online marketplaces after an attempted theft, during which a seller was attacked with bear spray, on Tuesday.

Police said officers were sent to the 1900 block of Robinson Street, in central Regina, just before 7 p.m., where they found a 47-year-old man reeling from a bear spray attack after a Facebook Marketplace transaction didn't go to plan.

The 47-year-old had agreed to meet a potential buyer for a smartwatch, but the supposed buyer attempted to take the watch without paying and a struggle ensued. The would-be robber then attacked the seller with bear spray and fled, police said in a news release.

Police said they're still looking for the person involved in that incident. They believe he used a false identity to contact the seller.

Ron Piché, a defence lawyer in Saskatoon, said the frequency of theft and scams over social media in the past five years "has become alarming."

"Frankly, I think this is like our current version of train robbers. It's the new wave, if you will, of criminality."

In light of the latest incident in Regina, police are recommending anyone arranging meetups over social media bring along a friend and have a phone handy in case of emergency.

Cities like Saskatoon, Lloydminster, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Brampton, Ont., have set up meetup areas for sales arranged by social media. Those areas are  in front of police stations, where there are video cameras and designated parking spaces for transactions.

Regina doesn't have a designated safe meetup area. 

Piché said a monitored area, in the vicinity of a police station, could potentially help deter crime. 

"There is a general suggestion that criminals don't want to be anywhere close to a police headquarters or a jail, so there's the optics," he said.

Four years ago, a similar incident prompted questions around safe zones in Regina. Evan Bray, then Regina's police chief, said he was not part of any discussions with officers to establish such an area in the city.

The Regina Police Service is operating out of a new headquarters building, with its last phase of construction expected to be completed next year, at a projected cost of $50 million. The police service said it could look into options for a secure meetup area, but has not made a decision yet because of ongoing work. 

"Before moving forward, we'd also need to discuss the concept with other agencies offering similar spaces to better understand its value in crime prevention," Les Parker, a Regina police spokesperson, said in an emailed statement Friday.