While trying to sell a phone he heard gunfire. Two Arlington Martin students arrested
A man with a phone to sell told police he got nervous while waiting for the arrival of whom he believed to be the buyer.
The seller and a person posing as a buyer had negotiated the sale of a cellphone last month on Snapchat's social media platform.
They agreed to meet about 9:30 p.m. Feb 16 in the 4000 block of Lacy Court, near Boles Junior High School in southwest Arlington, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. Three people approached the seller, who was in a small car with his brother and a friend.
A resident initially called the police because the seller and two other men were parked in an unfamiliar vehicle, the affidavit said. But as officers were on their way to investigate, the phone sale turned into a shooting.
The seller told an investigator he recognized one suspect, an Arlington Martin student named Joe who was standing with two other youths at the passenger window when the seller asked for the payment for the phone.
Joe had bent down to get the money out of his sock and the seller was looking at his phone when one of the other youths reached into the car and grabbed the phone, the affidavit stated.
The seller said he heard the sound of a round being chambered in a gun, looked up and saw a tall black male pointing a gun at him. The seller ducked and the gun went off, according to the affidavit.
The seller told police that he saw Joe and the two other black youths run south on Misty Crest Drive, apparently taking with them the seller's iPhone 6s.
The two suspects lived about a half-mile from where the robbery occurred. In photo lineups, the seller identified Joe and another suspect, also an Arlington Martin student, the affidavit said.
Keyon Flynn, 17, turned himself into authorities on Feb. 16, the day after the robbery. Joseph Zerr-Meneses, also 17, was arrested without incident the next day, according to police. No information was given about a possible third suspect.
Flynn faces robbery charges, while Zerr-Meneses faces aggravated robbery charges, according to the Tarrant County court filings.
Mitch Mitchell: 817-390-7752, @mitchmitchel3
This story was originally published March 10, 2018 at 5:37 PM with the headline "While trying to sell a phone he heard gunfire. Two Arlington Martin students arrested."