Moral of Story: Don't Buy Browns Tickets in a Parking Lot

A man who bought Cleveland Browns tickets in the Giant Eagle parking lot went to police after he arrived at the game and found the tickets were no good.

The man was confused because he used tickets for the same seats successfully at a pre-season game.

But when he tried to go to the regular season opener, the tickets were not accepted at the gate.

Turns out, they had been stolen from the real owner, who ordered season tickets and never received them in the mail, according to Detective Lt. John Janowski.

After he reported them stolen, the Browns issued him new tickets and canceled the bar code on the old ones.

Police have tracked down the woman who sold them and issued a warrant for her arrest.

Here's how it unfolded, Janowski said:

The victim saw an ad on Craig's List for season Browns tickets for $300. He arranged to meet the seller in the Giant Eagle parking lot and paid $260 for them.

He attended a pre-season game with no problem, but when he went to the opener of the regular season, the tickets were declined.

That's because in the meantime, the man who bought the seats had reported them stolen. The Browns issued new tickets for those seats, making the bar code on the old tickets invalid.

Police were able to identify the suspect -- a 21-year-old Cleveland woman -- who advertised the tickets on Craig's List. The victim subsequently identified her as the woman who sold him the tickets in the parking lot, Janowski said.

Police have filed charges of theft by deception and issued a warrant for her arrest.