A Jewish woman was robbed at gun point and the thief made off with her brand new android phone. Her screams alerted nearby residents.

Woman Mugged at Gun Point on President Street

A Jewish woman was robbed at gun point and the thief made off with her brand new android phone. Her screams alerted nearby residents.

The incident occurred at around 11:00pm near the corner of President Street and New York Avenue. The woman was loading belongings into her car when she suddenly felt something brush up behind her.

Thinking at first it was a cat, she quickly figured out something was very wrong as she felt her shaitel being pushed down and the cold steel of a gun was pressed to the back of her neck.

Initially she gave a yell and the thug warned her not to make another sound. “I have a loaded gun pressed to the back of your head, now give me your cellphone” he demanded, and the victim quickly complied. He then asked for the password to the phone which she said she did not know and that it was brand new.

The thief then fled down President Street towards Nostrand Avenue.

The woman approached the first Jewish home she saw and had them call 911 and Shormim, who responded and quickly went searching for the perpatrator. He was described as a black male with a light complexion, wearing a blue and white checkered shirt and short curly hair, around 5 foot 8 or 5 foot 9.

Police took the woman for a search of the area and after not finding anything they took her down to the police station to file a police report and speak to detectives. Shomrim transported the womans husband to the Precinct.

Unfortunately the phone did not have any tracking software on it, which could have helped locate the phone and the thief. “Smartphone owners need to take a few minutes and set such software up on their phone, it could be extremely useful within the first minutes of a crime” said a Shomrim volunteer. “In the past we have had success in tracking and recovering iPhones that were stolen thanks to GPS based location apps.”

19 Comments

  • Tech

    Unless it is an abduction case the police are not allowed to use the standard GPS system in phones to track a thief.
    Apple’s iPhone has the where Is my iPhone app.

    for Android there are similar apps but none as of now that I know that are developed by Google.

    I hope this information helps, and yes if you have an iPhone you should use the app as it is helpful not just in theft but in case you misplace your phone anywhere.

  • GotYa

    There’s a great App called GotYa! It not only tracks but emails a picture of the person attempting to log into the phone…

  • BEST APPS

    The best two app are ” wheres my droid” and sprint has an app called ” total equipment protection app”.they can be found on Google play store. both of theys apps can be accessed from any compute to get the latest GPS location. u can even text a “safe word” from any phone to your phone and a text message would be sent back to u with the location of your phone. in addition all people should have a password to enter there phone!

  • Plan B

    There’s an app for android called Plan B that works with 2.0 – 2.3 versions of Android and can be installed AFTER you’ve already lost your phone. Obviously it’s better to install another tracking software before though.

  • Hmmmm........

    My sister’s phone was stolen in the Los Angeles area and the police wanted $200 to get it for her!!!! She used an old phone until she was able to buy a new one!

  • gun

    its about time they let the good new yorkers carry guns, the laws in NY make it so hard for the good people but for some reason the bad ones always manage to get one

    • Well Said

      I couldn’t agree more. We aren’t safe & G-d help us when the summer really comes. They crawl out of their holes & attack.

  • ch

    During the police pursuit It must have escalated to more than just a phone mugging because the cops were circling in their helicopter for 2 full hours around and around the president/Nostrand area… kept me up until 1am.

  • vadd hakall

    we have a Vadd hakall that does nothing. we have rabbis that only wake up to send letters to organizers of Parade to say Yechi. or the Tzfatim will attack.

    so what do you expect.

    do you have any idea how many cars get broken into each and every night?

  • o.s.

    WERE THERE SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS AROUND?????????? AND IF NOT, THEN WHY NOT? in a neighborhood like this, they should be subsidized to the community.

  • to #12

    Well, that is the second mugging at gunpoint in that area in two days. So better be safe than sorry.

    The first, which happened to a black couple at 6:00 AM on New York and Union, wasn’t reported on “our” websites, but the police were able to see the gunmen thanks to the cameras on a building owned by Lubavitchers.

  • jury duty

    Unfortunately this is a very common occurrence in Brooklyn. We have to be careful and not carry phones visible to anyone in public. thieves are after the smart phones and many carry guns. Hashem protect us!