We’ve seen some pretty crazy stories of iPhone theft and sweet retribution. Remember when a cruse line employee stole a passenger’s iPhone and revealed his own identity by taking pictures that were uploaded to Photo Stream for the world to see? Or how about when an 8-year-old used Find My iPhone to locate over 300K worth of stolen goods?
There’s nothing quite like a good ol’ citizens arrest. In Manhattan, a would-be thief was run down and tackled by two New Yorkers before he could make off with a woman’s iPhone.
Brian Hester and Chase Bunn were two normal dudes on a smoke break when they saw a scumbag blindside a woman outside her office on 100 Church Street. The perpetrator, Noah Udell, grabbed the iPhone out of 23-year-old Erika Silva’s hand while she was surfing the web, and the two were seen briefly wrestling for the phone before Udell overpowered Silva and started running.
That’s when Hester and Bunn became more than normal dudes; they became heroes.
The New York Post reports:
Bunn was the first to grab Udell, 26, but hurt his knee in the attempted citizen’s arrest. Hester then knocked the suspect to the ground but got slightly dazed himself in the fall.
That’s when a crowd of other outraged bystanders started to gather, and one man stomped his foot onto Udell’s throat.
Hester said he actually had to hold off angry onlookers. In the process, Udell jumped up and once again bolted.
Hester chased him a second time, catching him on Barclay Street near West Broadway.
“I was like, ‘I don’t have all day to be chasing you,’ ” Hester said he told Udell.
The two men caught and detained Udell until the cops arrived, and the scene was captured by bystander on the street (video is flash):
The Wall Street Journal recently profiled smartphone theft in New York City, noting that 40% of all devices stolen are made by Apple (dubbed “iCrime”). Soon all U.S. carriers will have blacklists that will block a smartphone or 3G tablet from getting service when it is reported as stolen.
Source: The New York Post
Alex Heath is a journalist who works for Tech Insider. He’s the former co-host of The CultCast. He has been quoted by the likes of the BBC, KRON 4 News, and books like “ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation.” He lives in Lexington, Kentucky. If you want to pitch a story, share a tip, or just get in touch, additional contact information is available on his personal site. Follow him on Twitter.
6 responses to “Citizens Chase Down An iPhone Thief In The Streets Of New York City [Video]”
non’t f*&#@ with the Apple cult lol
Kinda crazy how the guy thinks he’s a reporter, but good on him for acting like a human being when so many folks would have just walked by.
That was awesome. I’m glad there are still some good people out there willing to help others
Too bad they couldn’t beat the living crap out of this dude so he wouldn’t ever consider doing it again. If they’d enact a law that a perp loses a couple of fingers for every time he tries to steal something we just might see a bit of reduction of those types of crimes. The lawyers will be able get this thief back out on the streets in no time at all. I’ll be surprised if the perp doesn’t sue those dudes that captured him for unnecessary roughness. He’ll probably win knowing how corrupt the court system is in New Jack City.
If that guy sues the good samaritans I bet he’ll win. No good deed goes unpunished.
You want to cut off his fingers? How about his hand? What kind of a barbarian are you?