Attempted Phone Theft On E 18th Street This Morning

A neighbor writes about two men who tried taking his phone at about 11am this morning on E 18th Street between Cortelyou and Beverley Roads (close to the gunpoint robbery of a 12-year-old and his family late last month). He says:

I had my phone out for just a second to let my boss know I was on my way. The two teenagers came up behind me – I saw their shadows and stopped to let them pass. But once I stopped, they stopped too.

Then they came around in front in my path and faced me. One tried to slap the phone out of my hand, but it didn’t work. I still thought they might just be joking/fooling around but then they didn’t run or anything, and one of them said, “Give us the phone.”

There was a guy parallel parking literally right next to us, so I just starting shouting and drawing everybody’s attention. Then the big guy said “stop it,” or “shut up,” and he took a step towards me, but then I think he thought better of it because there were at least 3 people who were half-heartedly looking at us.

I kind of moved around them while they decided to either go for me or abort, and I started walking towards Beverley, waving my arms and saying, “I’m going to get the cops.”

They kept telling me to shut up, but then they headed towards Cortelyou. Both had on baseball caps which they removed when they “ran” away. I say ran but they walked rapidly, presumably so as not to draw attention to themselves.

Just want everybody to be safe. They had done this before. I don’t think they were just kids messing around.

He describes the men as “a thinner guy wearing a hoodie and basketball shorts” who was black with a dark complexion, and a “bigger guy wearing jeans and a tan shirt” with a lighter complexion.

He says he intends to file a police report as soon as possible. If you were one of the neighbors who witnessed the incident this morning, please call the 70th Precinct at 718-851-5511.