Cell Phone Thief Chased, Captured With Bear Hug


A cell phone thief became a victim of civilian justice in New York City on Friday, and it was a bear hug which stopped him. While the phone may not have been recovered, the teenager who stole it has been caught by the very person he took it from.

Clara Vondrich was in front of a Williamsburg coffee shop taking a business call on her cell phone when three teens approached her. One of them, a 13 year old whose name is being withheld due to his age, pushed her almost to the ground as he snatched the mobile device and ran with it.

The cell phone thief wasn’t counting on her being in better shape than he is. Vondrich chased him, and due to his alleged lack of fitness, caught him. She didn’t catch him before he handed the phone off to his more nimble friend though, who got away.

Vondrich held the teen in a bear hug for about two minutes until the police arrived. She recounted the chase for the local news:

“I was all disoriented. My headphones almost came off. I looked up and I saw him running with my phone. … I was screaming the whole time, ‘Get that kid!’? I finally said, ‘Yo, I’ll give you $200 for that. Just stop.’ … He was so pudgy and was slowing down, so that’s why I caught up to him.”

Clara Vondrich, 36 and wearing a sun dress and wedges at the time, claims she felt sorry for the teen.

His mother had very different thoughts upon seeing the pictures taken of Vondrich giving her son a bear hug:

“She has her hands all over him. Why is she touching him like that? … He’s a very good boy. He’s just been hanging out with the wrong crowd. I told him he has to stop hanging out with those boys.”

The teen has been arrested and taken to the 90th precinct station house, where he is expected to be charged with grand larceny. If this was truly a case of just being in the wrong crowd, the teen may have just thrown a much brighter future away just to fit in or make some quick money.

There is still no word about what happened to the teen who managed to get away with the phone, but we expect he will be found and arrested as well. There are ways to track a cell phone, with the details surrounding Edward Snowden’s history with the NSA and the implications.

Though the device might not be found yet, the cell phone thief has been stopped by the very person he stole it from.

[image via Digital Trends]

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