By Joe Johnson
A 20-year-old Athens man reported that he was robbed at gunpoint at a westside public housing complex.
The victim’s recounting of the incident suggested that the crime might have been gang-related.
According to police, the incident occurred the afternoon of April 4, when the victim took a Lyft from his home on Tremont Parkway to meet someone he knew from Instagram as “Kelly” at Rocksprings Homes apartments off Baxter Street in order to sell him an Xbox 360 video game console.
While waiting for Kelly at the basketball court, the victim said he encountered a group of teens, one of whom pulled a gun and demanded that he surrender his backpack and cellphone.
The victim told police that the weapon was a Glock 17 semiautomatic pistol that had an extended ammo magazine with a red bandanna wrapped around it, a possible indication of the gunman’s gang affiliation.
The stolen iPhone 13 was valued at $500 and the game console inside the backpack was valued at $100.
The victim took a bus to downtown, where he flagged down a sheriff’s deputy outside the courthouse to report that he had been robbed.