I got mugged Tuesday after work at 45th and Locust, at about 5:30pm. I was talking on my cell phone at the time when someone snatched it out of my hand from behind me. I turned, half-expecting it to be a friend playing a joke on me, but it was two guys I'd never seen before. One of them was already running away with my phone. I yelled "HEY!" and the other one slugged me in the side of the head with his fist before turning to run after his friend. I chased them down 45th street for most of the block, yelling "STOP THOSE GUYS!" and "CALL THE POLICE" but there was really nobody there who could help. They were way faster than me, and I finally came to my senses and realized I probably shouldn't be chasing them anyway. They didn't take my bookbag, my wallet, or the camera that was hanging around my neck. It was obviously just a grab-it-and-go operation, and it seemed clear at the time--although I could be wrong--that the plan was for one of them to grab the phone and get away, while the other guy stayed behind to stop me from chasing them. They ran north on 45th, and then east on Sansom. I'm still kicking myself for not thinking of taking a photo of them as they ran away.
The police were fantastic and they came only a few minutes after I called. They apprehended someone almost right away several blocks away (he'd met the description I'd given: 2 black guys, probably 16-20 years old, thin, white tanktops; and he'd run as soon as the police asked him to come over, and he threw something in the bushes while they were chasing him), at about 5:50 or so, and took me over to identify him, but I hadn't gotten a good enough look at his face to be able to identify him positively) I suggested to the police that maybe a camera had caught them on tape. The detective told me, "Well, if you know of any, let me know and I'll try to get the tape from them." I was a little surprised by this; I work at Penn, where there are security cameras around campus which have been extremely effective in fighting crime. I re-walked the route that they ran, and I couldn't find a single video camera aimed at the sidewalk, which is too bad; Even the Supreme supermarket apparently has no cameras on the outside of the store. Cameras would make it easier to find and identify people like these guys after the fact, and hopefully deter them from commiting these crimes in the first place. I wish UC District would consider adding them to various intersections. Oh, btw, my phone was a Palm Treo, and I don't know if they targeted me because they recognized it as an expensive phone, or if they would have gone after any phone that was visible. People I've told the story to tell me that it was probably more about asserting their power than it was about wanting a phone. dave
