Police say the seller was pepper-sprayed and dragged for several hundred feet.
WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. — Three people were arrested after police said a Facebook Marketplace meetup to sell a PlayStation 5 turned into a robbery outside a Winter Springs shopping area, where the seller was pepper-sprayed and dragged by a car before falling to the pavement.
Investigators said the incident has renewed concern about in-person meetups arranged online, even in crowded places with cameras. Winter Springs police said the suspects were found after officers tracked the vehicle to Apopka and recovered both pepper spray and the stolen PS5. Two suspects face robbery charges, and a third is accused of helping after the theft by driving the getaway car.
Police said the robbery happened Feb. 17 after the suspects met the seller in Winter Springs to buy the console. According to investigators, the group decided not to pay once they met face to face and tried to leave with the PS5. The seller ran after the car and reached inside as it pulled away, police said, and the suspects responded by spraying him and continuing to drive as he held on.
Capt. Nicholas Romano of the Winter Springs Police Department said the case stood out because it unfolded in a public, high-traffic location in daylight. “Done in broad daylight,” Romano said, describing a setting where people might assume they are safer because of nearby businesses and cameras. Police said the victim was dragged several hundred feet before falling from the moving vehicle, suffering minor injuries. Investigators have not released the victim’s name, and police have not publicly detailed the victim’s age or whether he required hospital treatment.
Winter Springs police said investigators tracked the suspects’ vehicle to Apopka and found the stolen PS5 and a can of pepper spray during a search. Police identified the suspects as Christopher Stephan Lewis and Maud Chelle Jean Baptiste, who were each charged with robbery, and Natalya Joi Hayles, who was charged with accessory after the fact. Investigators have not released details about whether the suspects were related or how they connected with the victim online beyond the marketplace listing.
Records and police statements also tied Lewis and Baptiste to separate robberies a day earlier in other parts of Central Florida, investigators said. In Ocoee, police said a man selling a MacBook was pepper-sprayed and robbed after meeting the suspects at a Publix on West Colonial Drive. In Orlando later that same day, investigators said a couple trying to sell a PS5 at a Wawa on South Orange Blossom Trail were also pepper-sprayed during a theft. Police said those earlier incidents helped investigators recognize a pattern as they worked the Winter Springs case.
Law enforcement officials said the Winter Springs victim tried to grab back the console as the suspects sped away, a moment captured in surveillance video later released by police. Romano said the department is still working the case and gathering information, including reviewing video and confirming the sequence of actions inside and around the vehicle. “It’s an unfortunate circumstance,” Romano said, adding that the investigation remained active as detectives sorted through evidence from the scene and the vehicle stop.
Police said the suspects were taken into custody after the Apopka location was identified, and the recovered property was documented. Investigators have not publicly said whether additional charges could be filed related to the earlier incidents in Ocoee and Orlando or whether the cases will be handled in separate jurisdictions. Authorities have not released court dates in public statements, and it was not immediately clear Thursday whether any of the suspects had entered pleas or requested attorneys in court filings.
In Winter Springs, officers used the incident to highlight the risks that can follow online meetups, even at familiar businesses. Police said many agencies in Central Florida provide monitored areas at or near police facilities designed for internet exchanges. Romano said the goal is to place transactions under clear surveillance, with staff nearby, when people meet strangers to buy or sell expensive items. Investigators said the Winter Springs robbery shows how quickly a planned exchange can turn into a struggle once a suspect decides to flee.
Author note: Last updated February 26, 2026.