Debbie writes with an account of a couple of brazen robberies last night along Beacon Avenue near Jefferson Park:
I was walking north along Beacon Ave yesterday evening, using my earbuds with my iPhone on a call. The phone was in my left hand. At about 7pm, I passed by two young black guys in white T-shirts and shorts. One was wearing a light gray knit cap. They turned around and one of them grabbed the phone from my hand and the two took off down the sidewalk. When they turned and saw I wasn’t pursuing, they slowed to a walk and cut into the VA parking lot. They had pulled the earbuds off the phone and tossed them to the ground. I ran to pick them up and caught up to them. I demanded my phone back, but they denied having it. I didn’t think it was worth physically fighting over, so I turned back as they continued to walk through the lot.
A man who had just parked his car saw me run toward the thieves. When I was within earshot of him, I said they had stolen my phone, so he called the police. The two crossed Beacon Ave and jumped the fence into the golf course. After our reports were taken, the officer took me to the Jefferson Community Center, where there was another report. A woman had a 14 kt necklace ripped from her neck about 15-20 minutes earlier than my incident. It sounded like one or two of the men involved with her necklace were the same as the ones who stole my phone.
She also passes along some advice:
I had a first generation iPhone, so it isn’t worth a whole lot these days. But when I get another phone, I’m going to get black third party earbuds so it won’t look like I have an Apple product. I will be more careful when I have the phone out on the street, I’ll save involved and lengthy conversations for indoors, and I will be more aware of the people around me and make eye contact as the officer advised. The part of Beacon Ave that the theft occurred in is also somewhat empty, so as much as possible I’m going to walk along 15th Avenue instead until it connects to Beacon to avoid walking around the VA area.
I’m not sure I’d agree about that stretch of Beacon being much less ‘safe’ than the sparse stretches of 15th, but I’ll add another safety tip: instead of keeping your i-device in your hand, put it in a pocket.
Wow, this really sucks. I walk this area nearly every day and often at off hours in the dark.
With all of the “apps” being developed for the iphone, i wonder if any are security oriented, like something that goes berzerk until the battery dies or a code is punched in if the headphone is disconnected. Maybe the thief would drop it, allowing it to be recovered. Or, maybe a tazer app would be appropriate here. I recall someone else on this blog saying they were assaulted on Beacon Ave in pursuit of an iphone.
I must say I don’t think it’s a good idea to be walking around with earphones on, period. They really do affect your ability to know what is going on around you. I have earbuds for my phone, but I don’t use them while out and about for that reason. I would not feel comfortable doing so. So I agree with Debbie’s advice.