Man dragged 30m by car after woman dupes him on Facebook Marketplace deal

A man was left with serious injuries after being dragged by a vehicle for 30m as a woman robbed him of his iPhone in a Facebook Marketplace scam. Image / 123rf

A man was left injured after being dragged 30m by a vehicle as he fought with a woman who was trying to steal his iPhone in a Facebook Marketplace scam.

It turns out Hamilton woman, Lian Hunia, never intended on handing over any money for the iPhone 13, despite earlier “agreeing” to a sale price of $1000.

Hunia, appeared in the Hamilton District Court today where she admitted a charge of aggravated robbery and unrelated driving charges.

The 20-year-old spied the phone on Marketplace and began messaging the victim, using her grandmother’s Facebook account, on December 5, last year.

They agreed to meet at St Paul’s Collegiate School and Hunia told him she would be in a red Nissan.

He arrived at the school at 5.30pm and approached the passenger side of the vehicle, where Hunia was sitting, while her female associate was in the driver’s seat.

After asking to see the phone, he handed it over to Hunia and her associate who both had a look at it.

When the victim then tried to grab the phone back Hunia’s associate put the vehicle in drive and started moving forward. However, he tried to hold onto it and was dragged down the road as the vehicle began to speed off.

As it was moving, Hunia tried to push the victim while pulling the phone from his grip, and telling her associate to drive.

He was dragged for about 30 metres before coming off the vehicle and hitting the ground.

The victim suffered significant scrapes and abrasions to the right side of his body from being dragged.

He also fractured his right clavicle, or collar bone, due to the impact of falling from the car, and struck the back of his head causing swelling and bleeding.

In an interview with police, Hunia said she was going to pay for the phone using cash savings and from the sale of an iPad.

She claimed that when she was looking at the phone, the victim “grabbed her aggressively and she did not like that”, which was when she told her friend to drive. She still had the phone when she was arrested.

Meanwhile, at 6.15pm on March 1, this year, Hunia was sitting in the driver’s seat of the same red Nissan in Ann St, Hamilton.

Police were called to a family harm incident and as they approached her vehicle, she turned it on and began revving it.

After being told she was under arrest, officers pepper sprayed her through an open window and she sped off along a grass verge.

About 10 minutes later, she was seen by officers on Sandwich Rd, and after about 500m police abandoned the pursuit.

Hunia today admitted charges of aggravated robbery, failing to stop, escaping police custody, and driving while disqualified.

She was convicted by Judge Tini Clark and remanded on further bail for sentencing in September.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for nine years and has been a journalist for 20.