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Police asked borough residents and merchants in the area of Ames Avenue headed toward the train station to check their surveillance systems for a gold-colored Chevy sedan that the victim said his attackers fled in.
The 33-year-old man told police he brokered a deal on the classifieds application to sell an iPhone to a buyer on Ames Avenue just before 10:30 p.m. Friday, Lt. Sean Farrell said.
The Chevy had three black men and a black woman inside when he approached it carrying the phone -- and was grabbed, the man told police.
"A knife was shown but not used," Farrell said.
He struggled and was struck in the head, the lieutenant said.
The robbers took the phone, then the Chevy roared off toward East Rutherford, he said.
Rutherford First-Aid Ambulance Corps took the man to Hackensack University Medical Center with minor head and ankle injuries. He was treated and released, Farrell said, adding that detectives planned to talk with him at length on Saturday.
lf you live or work in the area and have surveillance video that could help the investigation, call Rutherford PD: (201) 939-6000.
Farrell also urged people to be extremely cautious doing business with strangers on social media sites and apps. If you do make a deal, he said, meet the other person in the parking lot at police headquarters.
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