Cellphone snatcher attacks outside Hazelwood restaurant
The video shows a white Hyundai Accent taking off while a guard chases after it.
A man’s cellphone was snatched out of his hands while he was using it outside a restaurant in Hazelwood Street on Wednesday afternoon.
The 30-year-old was busy on his phone when he was approached by a man who stole his phone and took off in a car.
“The suspect fled in a white Hyundai Accent,” said Brooklyn police spokesperson Captain Colette Weilbach.
“A common robbery is being investigated.”
ALSO READ: Stop using your cellphone in public, police warn
The aftermath caught on video, shows the white Hyundai Accent taking off while a guard tries to chase behind it.
Weilbach said street robberies in the Brooklyn area were scattered and no specific area was a hotspot.
“It can happen at any place or time,” she said.
“Vehicle-related crimes are also high around restaurants.”
Weilbach warned cellphone users to be vigilant at all times.
“Increased vigilance is needed from cellphone users to reduce the high number of street robberies,” she said.
“Cellphone users are also targeted while they are waiting for a taxi they ordered through a cellphone app or while waiting for their food order at a fast-food outlet.
“Cellphone robberies are generally a crime of opportunity. Criminals focus on opportunities that cellphone users give them when they use their cellphones in public.”
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