3 indicted in violent Craiglist robberies in KC

A federal grand jury has charged three men with committing a violent string of six Craigslist robberies this summer, including a July 16 shooting that seriously injured a Liberty couple.

The indictment, returned under seal on Friday and opened Monday, added two new defendants to the case.

Authorities arrested Troy Wright of Grandview on Monday. Wright, 21, made an afternoon court appearance and listened for almost a half-hour as a federal judge read from the indictment and summarized charges against him.

Police and federal agents also searched Monday for Thomas Thorpe, 25, of Kansas City, arresting him late in the afternoon.

The third man, Debvon Buckner, 28, of Kansas City, initially was charged in state court in July and was moved in August to federal court jurisdiction, where he has been held without bond.

Each faces counts of conspiracy to commit robbery, aiding and abetting robbery, aiding and abetting brandishing a firearm in a crime of violence and aiding and abetting the discharge of a firearm in a crime of violence.

If convicted of all charges in the 13-count indictment, Buckner faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 92 years in federal prison, while the other two men would face at least 117 years.

The men allegedly participated in a string of robberies beginning in late June in which buyers or sellers of items on the Craigslist online business site were robbed of money or the items they were trying to sell.

In each case, robbers threatened the Craigslist clients with firearms.

The string reached its violent conclusion on July 16 when the Liberty couple and their teenage son met a man near 5500 East 84th Terrace in Kansas City to discuss the purchase of a white Hyundai Sonata.

After a test drive, two other men appeared with weapons, demanded money and shot the couple.

Police later recovered the Sonata, finding in the trunk an electronic gaming system that had been stolen in one of the earlier robberies.

This story was originally published September 22, 2014 at 5:34 PM with the headline "3 indicted in violent Craiglist robberies in KC."