We are passing along information about an incident that happened to a neighbor near 48th and Hazel this week. Police advise being cautious when using your cell phone in public.
Alissa was walking down the street with her baby daughter in late afternoon and talking on her phone (an iPhone) when a man ran up to her and grabbed her phone. Alissa wasn’t able to give a detailed description because it happened too fast. Here’s what she writes:
“I just wanted to let everyone know that my iPhone was stolen from my hand (while I was talking on it) on Tuesday, 6/12 on the 4800 block of Hazel Ave at 4:45 PM. The person who took it ran up from behind me, snatched my phone from my hand and continued running very fast. I was carrying my 1 year old daughter in a carrier at the time, so I was quite upset about it. The guy didn’t hurt me or my daughter. He did knock my glasses off, but I think that was accidental since he grabbed the phone when it was up against my ear. We are OK and we filed a police report, but they don’t anticipate finding him or the phone. The police were very responsive and helpful though. They came about 2 minutes after calling 911. We tried to track the phone, but he immediately turned it off and hasn’t turned it on since. I just wanted to give everyone a warning… Please be very careful with having your cell phones out when you are walking around.”
Phone snatching is on the increase around the city.
June 14th, 2012 at 6:59 pm
And please, all the young, petite, female Penn students, stop doing this while you are walking around! Your size, sex and level of distraction makes you an easier prey for a sexual predator.
June 14th, 2012 at 7:20 pm
Gosh, Dive Goddess, you forgot to add race into your laundry list of stereotypes!
June 14th, 2012 at 11:49 pm
Women really shouldn’t do anything outside of their homes, because it makes them prey for sexual predators. Thanks for the reminder, DG!
But for serious, a 14-year-old took off with my iPhone in a similar situation a few weeks ago. The cops used the “Find my iPhone” app to get it back! Yay! And last week I went to brunch at The Sidecar in South Philly and a kid stole someone’s iPhone right off their table on the sidewalk! Careful out there, everyone. And if you haven’t activated that app, do it!
June 14th, 2012 at 11:55 pm
Really, Queenofthejungle. Because only Penn students get assaulted. And petite women. Women over 5’8″ NEVER get attacked. You can’t argue with facts.
June 15th, 2012 at 6:47 am
~In general, I think walking and talking on the phone is risky because it increases your distraction level which unfortunately makes you a target. Walking and texting is even worse. Like in this case, being distracted not only makes you a more appealing target, it reduces the chance of you being able to register information about the attacker, lowering the chance of them being caught.
In a perfect, ideal world we shouldn’t have to worry about being victims of theft, assault, violence but we aren’t in an ideal world. The take away from this is that it’s not the wisest idea to walk around distracted. None of that, however, takes away from the fault of the attacker. They made the choice to steal.
That being said, I’m glad both mother and child are okay.
Worst case scenario, can they get Apple to brick the phone?
June 15th, 2012 at 9:26 am
It will be interesting to see how the new blacklisting plan by the major carriers will impact phone theft.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/09/us-carriers-agree-to-build-stolen-phone-database-and-blacklist/
The fact that stolen phones won’t be able to be used on most major networks should greatly reduce the value of stolen phones and thus reduce theft.
June 15th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
I saw a similar snatcher in Center City of Philadelphia (13th & Spruce) on June 14 in the evening. A young mother with a baby baggy was snatched her cellphone by a snatcher. He came running to my direction with full speed. When he passed me, I tried to catch him. On the contrary I was pushed down by him. Then I chased him for a while with shouting “Somebody, catch him!!” but finally I lost him because he turned and turned into deserted alleys. I hope the guy is arrested soon.
July 2nd, 2012 at 8:35 pm
A woman had her iPhone snatched today around 6pm on the 4500 block of Pine Street. Police were called immediately. She was on her phone at the time.
July 3rd, 2012 at 10:59 am
…And The Fuzz tweeted that the guy was caught very soon after on 48th & Baltimore.