Community Corner

Woman Hurt as Thief Steals Her Cell Phone at QB Mall

The 23-year-old was texting when a man approached her from behind and grabbed her phone. It was the second such crime to occur at Quaker Bride Mall in Lawrence Township in the past week and a half.

A Pennsylvania woman suffered multiple injuries while trying – unsuccessfully – to retrieve her cellular phone from the man who stole it from her while she was at Quaker Bridge Mall Wednesday (March 27), Lawrence Township police confirmed.

The 23-year-old from Levittown, Pa., suffered multiple bruises and abrasions to her hands, knees, elbow and left hip from being knocked to the ground during the robbery and then, after chasing after the thief, by being dragged along the pavement a short distance while trying to get into the thief’s getaway vehicle as it sped away, according to police.

It was the second such crime to occur at the mall on Route 1 in Lawrence Township in the past week and a half.

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Township police spokesman Lt. Mark Ubry said the 23-year-old, who works in the mall, told police she was walking through the mall about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, texting on her cell phone, when she observed four young men heading in her direction.

Prior to reaching the woman, three of the four men abruptly turned around and headed back in the direction from which they had come. The fourth man walked past the woman, but then apparently doubled back and, approaching her from behind, tried to grab the Apple iPhone – worth $200 – from her hands, Ubry said.

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There was a brief struggle, during which the woman was knocked to the ground, he said. Having finally wrestled the cell phone from the woman’s grasp, the man took off running in the direction of the mall’s bus port.

The woman got up and ran after the thief, following him out of the mall, where he jumped into a black or dark gray Nissan Murano sport utility vehicle occupied by the other three men the woman had seen, Ubry said.

The woman grabbed onto the vehicle as it started to pull away, but after being dragged along for a few seconds she lost hold and fell to the pavement, Ubry said, noting that the woman’s injuries were later attended to by emergency medical personnel.

The woman was only able to describe the four men as black, 18 to 22 years old, wearing hooded sweatshirts.

On March 17, a 50-year-old woman from Edison had her iPhone snatched out of her hand by a young man – described as black, 18 to 20 years old, 6 feet to 6 feet 5 inches tall, 120 to 130 pounds, wearing a black hooded jacket, blue jeans and sneakers – who ran up to her from behind as she walked in the area of Quaker Bridge Mall’s center court.

Detective William Chester is investigating both crimes. Police ask anyone with information that could aid the investigation to call him at (609) 896-1111.

 


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