A Long Island man was so desperate to stop a scammer who cheated him out of $8,000 on a Rolex watch sale, that he jumped on the hood of the thief’s moving car, according to police and video of the wild scene.
Steve Mauro – who put his watch up for sale on Facebook Marketplace – arranged to meet the would-be buyer in front of his Massapequa home around noon Friday, Nassau County Police and the victim said.
The suspect inspected the watch, agreed to buy it and asked the unsuspecting seller to come back to his vehicle to receive payment, authorities said.
But the quick-thinking thief – with the watch in tow – locked his doors as soon as he got in the car, preventing the seller from entering through either the passenger’s or driver’s side door, police said.
Once on the driver’s side, the suspect sped his gray Honda SUV in reverse, knocking Mauro to the ground, Ring camera footage released by Nassau cops shows.
Undeterred, the seller then hopped on top of the hood of the car, again attempting to stop the driver, the clip shows.
“I was not going to roll over and let this man take it… without a fight,” Mauro, 43, told the Associated Press.
But the suspect ultimately managed to get away with a free Rolex – driving east on Jerusalem Avenue and leaving the victim with cuts on his knee, elbow and hand, cops said.
That part of the ordeal was witnessed by a Nassau County Police officer on patrol, police said.
“I can always sniff out a scammer from the very beginning and this guy didn’t come across that way at all,” said Mauro, adding he ran to the nearby cops when he was tossed from the SUV.
“I started screaming ‘Go get him, he has my Rolex!’”
The victim was treated at the scene by a Nassau County Police medic, cops said.
The robber, who has not been caught, is described as about 30 years old, standing about 5-foot-10 with a slim build and brown long dread-style hair, authorities said.
His gray Honda appeared to have Connecticut plates, cops said.
With Post wires
