The owner of a lawn-care company was robbed Saturday after being lured to a vacant home under false pretenses.

Fredericksburg police spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe said the incident occurred about 2:30 p.m. in the 400 block of Morningside Drive.

The victim, who advertises his name and phone number on the side of his business truck, got a call from a male who asked to meet with him to get an estimate.

The victim went to the home, but got no answer at the front door.

Bledsoe said the victim then called the number he’d received and was told to come to the back of the home.

The victim did and was accosted by three young men. Two of them held the victim’s arms and legs while the third went through his pockets and stole more than $500 in cash and some credit cards.

The suspects then ran into the woods. The victim was not injured.

Bledsoe said the home the victim was called to has been vacant for about three years and belongs to the pastor of a Baptist church in Spotsylvania.

The pastor is not a suspect and was very concerned about what had occurred, Bledsoe said.

The cell phone number used to call the victim is among the things being investigated, Bledsoe said.

The tactics used by the suspects in this case were similar to the ones that resulted in the death of China Express delivery driver Yong Zhang last year.

Those suspects, Jerome Montgomery and Marcey White, called in a food order to a vacant home on Charles Street in Fredericksburg. Zhang was attacked and robbed when he made the delivery.

Montgomery was recently convicted of capital murder and got life in prison without the possibility of parole. White has pleaded guilty to multiple charges and is awaiting sentencing.

Keith Epps: 540/374-5404
kepps@freelancestar.com