By Shavonne Walker

shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

Salisbury Police say a 16-year-old orchestrated an armed robbery of an unsuspecting man who tried to sell the teen a cell phone through a mobile app.

Police charged Ayyad Faour Sukkar, of the 1200 block of Arden Drive, with felony robbery with a dangerous weapon. Police credit the representatives at OfferUp, an app that creates a space for buyers and sellers to connect, with helping to identify the teen.

The incident occurred at 6:45 p.m. Feb. 19 in the Meadowbrook neighborhood. The victim connected with the teen through the app and agreed to meet in the 1200 block of Forestdale Drive to sell the teen a cell phone.

The teen told the victim he’d be standing in front of a house on Forestdale Drive. The teen got into the victim’s vehicle to look at the phone. The teen told the man he needed to get his money. Police say instead of getting money he walked around the back of the car and came up behind the victim with a silver pistol in his hand.

He told the victim, “that’s my phone now,” took the phone and walked away.

Police were able to work with OfferUp and witnesses to identify Sukkar as the suspect. The app uses a text message feature that helped police.

Police Capt. Shelia Lingle suggests that anyone who intends to meet someone for an online-arranged purchase meet in a public, well-lit place.

Sukkar remains in the Rowan County Detention Center under a $50,000 secured bond. Sukkar has a number of pending 2015 Alamance County cases involving larceny, simple marijuana possession, assault on a child under 12, and traffic violations, all of which are misdemeanors.

He also has a pending 2016 Alamance County case involving misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon.