DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — DeKalb County police are looking for a man they say is behind several armed robberies set up through Facebook Marketplace.

When James Rabbit, a retired veteran, saw an ad for a 77 Oldsmobile Cutlass on Facebook Marketplace, he knew he had to act fast.

“Something that brought me back to my childhood a little bit. A 1977 Cutlass is pretty much a desirable car,” Rabbitt said.

He and a friend quickly jumped in Rabbit’s SUV and drove from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to Dekalb County to meet the seller at a home on Chestnut Hill Circle.

“He said the car was in the garage at that point,” Rabbitt said. “He snuck around the back side of me, got to the rear of my black Chevy Tahoe and I heard in the distance, I heard ‘Give me the money (expletive), give that money (expletive).’”

Rabbitt said that when he looked up, he found a gun pointed at him.

The incident report said Rabbitt was not only robbed of the cash but his SUV.

“It’s kind of bringing me to tears because like I said it’s hard, it’s hard for me to hold back,” Rabbitt said.

Rabbitt identified the man who robbed him as Regi Knight, who Dekalb County police investigators are looking for in connection with several robberies through Facebook Marketplace.

Rabbitt also said investigators called him the day after a robbery on Preston Drive in December.

“An individual had been shot in the chest and was in the hospital. The individual went out there to purchase the same vehicle that I went out there to purchase,” he said.

While police track Knight down, Rabbitt is worried someone else might get seriously hurt.

“That car is still being posted out there,” he said.

In the meantime, Rabbitt said he had found the suspect on social media.

“This individual was continuously posting on Instagram and Facebook while driving around in my vehicle which is stolen,” he said.

Dekalb County police ask anyone who is making a transaction like this one to use their precincts as safe zones for these types of transactions.

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