From the COLlive Inbox:
I wanted to report an incident that happened to me last night at around 8 p.m. while walking up Brooklyn ave. between Montgomery and Crown Streets.
I had just gotten off the phone talking to my husband, I was holding my new iphone in my hand when someone came from behind me and snatched it from me and ran away with it. I turned around and saw a dark man dressed in black with a gray hat, average height, running with my phone down Montgomery towards Kingston Avenue.
I refused to let him get away with it. I started screaming for help and chasing after him. Before I knew it, I was not alone and there were quite a few people chasing after him.
They continued chasing him trying to pursue him all the way down Kingston past Empire. After chasing him for 3 blocks and running out of breath I got to Empire and Kingston. There were quite a few members of Shomrim there and a few other people who had joined in the chase. They had also called the police. They weren’t sure if he had turned down Empire or continued down on Kingston towards Lefferts.
While I was on the corner with the shomrim I called my husband to tell him what had happened. While I was on the phone with him he got a call from someone from my phone saying that they found the phone. Apparently when the guy saw how many people were chasing him he dropped the phone, somone saw him drop the phone and picked it up and he found it.
As I was about to go to the 71st Precinct to file a police report, some people who had been so courageous in assisting in the chase had told me that just the night before there was a similar incident. Someone fitting the same description had also snatched a phone from another girl and her phone was not retrieved.
I was truly overwhelmed by all the people who helped me and seemed to really care and stopped their busy lives to get involved, including the police who drove me home afterwards and didn’t want me walking alone after I had this experience. It is truly amazing to see how many people really care to help someone in need.
It is a testimony to what kind of community we live in, so I would like everyone to know that we do have good people who have real ahavas yisroel.
Thank you all so much, and those out there who are reading this should be aware that there are people out there who are criminals who snatch phones and bags. Always be alert when walking alone, and don’t display these things – especially at night – and please be careful when texting or talking publicly.
That criminal will think twice before coming back to CH.
to all the people that think that it was for attention or unadelkeit
u are ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! shame on youuu shes a good person and i love her
he was a scary person and she should stand up for her rights!!!!!!!!! and even though technology is takeing over us she had the right to call help!
yes i do think the fone shouldve been left with. or call police straight away and leav it to them. seriously-how precious is ur fone?? anyways u hav all ur contacts synced to ur computer on iphone and yes most fone companys will giv u a new fone. and yes u should worry about adelkeit. i think this story is a desperate cry for attention.
For standing up for the truth!
was on my iphone on albany after dark when a black youth walked past me and gave me a strange look . i hurried on and then turned back to look wen i saw him coming back towards me. cought by surprize , he turned away and fled. phew!
coz u dont know me lol
has terrible reviews, Everyone says its a waste of time and money and does not work. Read online customer reviews before purchasing
i was there when it happen the guy how got the phone did’t want pp to know. I saw the it happen he told the the black guy give it back or i will tackle you then the guy threw the phone to him and and the black kid ran away.
You are the most racist person I have ever met. What did a dark person ever do to you?
Go onto the street and say that to a dark skinned person and I’ll pay for hospital bills…
That’s nothing new. It happens on a daily basis here in South Africa!
Glad you are ok, but we should teach our young girls that the phone is not important and that they should just call for help. You were very brave. Glad you got the help
would you really rather that the guy got away with the crime- and the phone? this story at least has a happy ending; she got her phone back. there are plenty of crimes that go unsolved in ch every day. why do you waste your time on your computer worrying about the “edelkeit” of this lady. additionally, when someone snatches your phone from your hand, i dont think your first thought it “hmmmm, whats the edel thing to do now?” you want to get it back, by whatever means necessary. and another point: if you dont have insurance, your phone… Read more »
She helped ensure that that criminal will think twice before doing that again – or something worse. The security of this neighborhood IS worth causing a commotion about.
its not worth it to chase a guy after a stupid fone. just call ur fone company and explain the story and then u’ll get a new iphone. its not so aidel the way the lady in this story handled the situation by running and screaming for help and creating a whole commotion.
im a young single girl and not the strongest. would it be smarter for me to chase the guy and then if i do catch up to him grab the phone..or would that be a risk? i mean he could try punching me or something if i tired to grab it out of his hands..
i always wondered this
Just had my credit card stolen from the gym. Bank of America notified me of irregular activity and replaced all the money stolen from me.
Thank you Bank of America.
happened to me…very scary these people need to b found and i think ch shud teach kids in schools wht to do in such circumstances and a bit of self defence…wud have saved me lots of money…
My wife lost her phone (not an iphone just a palm) today on Lincoln place. It was found by a random non jew on the street who answered the call and returned the phone. I’m just saying nice people exist. Also good job to the author for perusing the thief instead of crying.
link does not exist
If the phone is wiped, (which it can be at the touch of a button) it CANNOT be traced!!!! AND the location is not 100% accurate. Its off by 100 yards or so. In the city, with houses so close, would never find the phone either way!!!
A bunch of eiber chachomim here.. The only thing she did wrong, was put herself in danger for a stupid PHONE!!! really?!?! he could have been dangerous!
there is a tweak called igotya, when installed, if someone puts in the wrong password it takes a picture of them and emails it to you with a location.
I hear there’s a similar tweak on Android I just don’t know what it’s called
Do these tracking apps work if they pull out the cards and battery?
Dark man? Please. Cut the PC shtus.
Black. B-L-A-C-K.
I saw similar thing happen during rush hour at a packed Franklin avenue station.
I suddenly see a black teenager running with a lubavitch girl yelling a few seconds behind him. He snatched the phone, and ran out of the station.
It’s been in the news chutzpadike people just snatching electronics in broad daylight.
I wonder what such a teenager answers when he shows up at home and his mom asks where he got his iphone from…
Or does mom just pat him on the back, without asking…
This is what I use, it will protect your data, and help with catching whoever stole it (or find it when lost)
http://preyproject.com/
Android: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.prey&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5wcmV5Il0.
Iphone: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/prey-anti-theft/id456755037
go brochie
she was one of the people who were there
Love
a brhs student
I was in a post office and while I was shuffling through my pocket and placed my phone and stuff down for a moment on the counter, it was snatched by a lowlife. Thank G-d it was only a blackberry and not an iphone. After that, I got a used phone on Amazon from a guy who turns out just finished learning in Hadar Hatorah! His phone number is 954-604-7559. I forgot his name but he is very fast, cheap and honest and is located in flatbush so you can even pick up an order. His amazon store is called… Read more »
Not sure which iphone you have but there is AN AMAZING APP on the new iphone 4s. basically if someone tried to put the password into your phone more than a couple times then the phone starts snapping pictures (person doesn’t know it’s about to start snapping so chances are they will get the thief’s face!) and sends them straight to an email address which you set up when you install the app. There was a story about this on the news because it happened to some woman so she got the pics and sent them straight to the police.… Read more »
This is amazing!!! What an inspiring story of courage!!!! We should all display such bravery in fighting crime in our neighborhood! I had my new at the time iPhone snatched out of my hands by a teenager on a bike several years ago. I don’t know what possessed me to run after him in a pair of heeled boots, screaming my head off all the way, but my phone was retrieved by a very kind African American man as a multiethnic coalition of concerned neighbors gathered to help. Standing up for what’s right isn’t necessarily a matter of ahavas yisroel-… Read more »
last night I was on my phone on montgomery between kingston and brooklyn when all of a sudden TONS I mean literally over 20 people were RUNNING their feet off down the block. I got so nervous I thought there was a stabbing or shooting chas vey shalom so I went inside. And then a couple minutes later I heard sirens (not sure if those were related to the incident). I was wondering if I would find out what would happen!! BH everyone is ok and you got ur phone back!!
To comment 5
maybe have the police call the number.
Even with the app how can you know for sure you,ll get it back?
Yes a report was filed
he’s lucky i wasn’t there, i would be in prison if i found this low peace of dirt .
amazing its not windy down in chelm, but if it was i would have been blown away!!!
There was an iphone stolen from Razag on Wednesday night as well. We called the number and the guy told us he’d sell it back for $400. Unfortunately we did not have the tracking app installed so we could never trace it.
No happy ending to this one.
There is a feature on the iPhone that allows you to track its every move. Its called “Find my iPhone”
To activate on your iPhone:
1. In Settings go to “Location Services” and make sure it is swithced on
2. Scroll down till you see “Find my iPhone” and turn it on.
Now you can track your iPhone from any computer:
1. Just Go to iCloud.com
2. Enter your Apple ID (the email address that you use for the AppStore and iTunes) and password.
3. Press “Find my iPhone”
I know they tried to convince you not to make a report, but did you end up filing a report anyways?
It is so important to file a police report. It takes ten minutes, and it will show for the record what type of crimes we live with. No mayor or higher up wants a crime zone name for our community. If we show what is going on, perhaps there will be better protection. If we just sit by, idly we will continue living with this and worse, as criminals see how they are successful without any repercussions.
If you had ICloud you would be able to determine location of phone and lock it.