The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office said Travis Taylor, a man from Lehigh Acres, stole, stole a Rolex watch from a woman’s purse on a Margaritaville Cruise in Tampa.
Investigators say Taylor then tried selling it on Facebook Marketplace. That was what ultimately led to the suspect's downfall, as the victim found him selling it online.
Karl Hancock, owner of Mr. Money Pawn & Gun Inc., sold the watch to the victim in Tampa several years ago, who reached out to him after it got stolen, asking if he knew the serial number.
Hancock did more than give the victim the serial number; he messaged the suspect on Facebook Marketplace, pretending he wanted to buy the watch, offering $4,000.
Hancock and Taylor agreed to meet halfway between Lehigh Acres and Tampa, inside a pawn shop in Port Charlotte, to have the pawnshop owner confirm that the Rolex was real before the transaction.
Undercover detectives were waiting outside, prepared to arrest Taylor.
Hancock said, "I told the corporal there, 'I'm not coming for trouble. I'm not coming to hurt or get hurt.' And he said, 'Well, I'll have everybody in place take the band off the watch, verify the serial number, and text us with a thumbs up, and then we'll take it over from there.'"
When Taylor left the pawn shop, Charlotte County detectives closed in on him and arrested him.