Police: 5 people assault man who refused to turn over iPhone
Five men assaulted a 20-year-old Novi man Saturday morning in Ann Arbor after he refused to give them his iPhone in an incident police are calling an attempted robbery.
Ann Arbor police Lt. Renee Bush said the man was walking at 2 a.m. Saturday in the 200 block of South State Street. He noticed five men walking behind him but slowly getting closer.
The man told police he was grabbed by one of the members of the group and the suspect tried to take the iPhone out of his hand. The Novi man refused to give up the phone and the group began beating him.
Bush said the man was picked up and thrown to the ground, and assaulted. Nothing was reported stolen, but the man told police he had facial injuries and pain in his side.
A detailed description of the men was not available. Anyone who might have information on this incident is encouraged to call the Ann Arbor police anonymous tip line at 734-794-6939 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK UP (773-2587).
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
genetracy
Wed, May 8, 2013 : 3 a.m.
I wonder what the reactions of the residents of OZ would be if the victim was legally carrying a firearm when attacked and used it to defend himself?
JRW
Tue, May 7, 2013 : 1:05 a.m.
Once again, a middle of the night assault in A2. These are a common occurrence, and walking around alone at that hour just isn't safe any longer, especially using an iphone, but it's not a good idea in any case. People just don't get the message that they are an easy target at those early morning hours when they are alone. Take a cab, walk with some friends and put away the phones.
Arieswoman
Tue, May 7, 2013 : 10:58 a.m.
@JRW I said basically the same thing but A2.com decided to remove my comment. I so agree with you!
PineyWoodsGuy
Tue, May 7, 2013 : 4:06 a.m.
Yep! A2 is only Mildly Safe during Daylight Hours. The posters here advise that we should surrender the streets to the thugs when it gets dark; we should retire to our cocoons. What Happened to the idea of a Police Force? Just saying . . . Put that in yer pipe and smoke it DDA Leadership!
Rugeirn Drienborough
Tue, May 7, 2013 : 1:12 a.m.
JRW is right. In an ideal world, we could all be out at any hour of the day or night any day of the year in any part of town. I don't think that ideal world has ever existed anywhere on earth or ever will exist. So, until Utopia comes to be, I can't help but observe that it doesn't seem to be too difficult to avoid being out on the street alone at 2 AM.
walker101
Tue, May 7, 2013 : 1:03 a.m.
Turns out, according to ABC news: "cities across the country are on alert as officials warn of an uptick in stolen Apple products, dubbed "Apple picking." Thieves steal IPhones, wipe them clean, then sell them for up to one-thousand bucks. Not too worry Obama will be passing out new IPhones for the next election to replace the old ones he gave out last time.
walker101
Wed, May 8, 2013 : 2:34 a.m.
Nicholas: I said next election, here's your link for your free federally funded phone: http://qlinkwireless.com/register/?B=13&A=13&SubAffiliateID=aw-broi&state=mi&gclid=CPez_fO7hbcCFdNzMgodYXEAvA
Homeland Conspiracy
Tue, May 7, 2013 : 11:56 a.m.
Fox Jazeera told him that so it MUST be true
Nicholas Urfe
Tue, May 7, 2013 : 3:25 a.m.
Do you have a link to iphones being given out? Or do you just make stuff up?
Greg
Mon, May 6, 2013 : 9:35 p.m.
Gives new meaning to the idea that cell phones are bad for your health.
Ross
Mon, May 6, 2013 : 6:28 p.m.
This is disgusting. What is happening to people? 5 guys team up to steal a phone from a stranger? Pathetic, cowardly behavior. Do they high-five each other after beating and then running away from a defenseless victim?
arborani
Tue, May 7, 2013 : 2:44 p.m.
The center cannot hold.
GoNavy
Mon, May 6, 2013 : 8:33 p.m.
Amazing. We never used to have theft in this country until just recently. Everything is just falling apart I tell you.
mun
Mon, May 6, 2013 : 6:23 p.m.
Don't I-Phones have a tracking device in the event of theft? Previous posters have mentioned, when an I-Pad was stolen, that such thing exists.
GoNavy
Mon, May 6, 2013 : 8:32 p.m.
That technology is easily defeated. If somebody doesn't want you to find the phone, you won't. You can, however, erase the contents remotely.
MikeyP
Mon, May 6, 2013 : 7:33 p.m.
Yes... but you have to activate it. Far too many do not. There are PLENTY of apps you can use to track your iPhone but, again, you have to install them for them to work. If more people did use these apps then more phones would be recovered, more people would go to jail and maybe "Apple Picking" wouldn't be as popular as it is in this town.
Ross
Mon, May 6, 2013 : 6:27 p.m.
Yes, there are apps for that. "Find my iPhone". A must have app for any i-device owner. It's free!
Nicholas Urfe
Mon, May 6, 2013 : 6:12 p.m.
I don't know what a stolen iphone is worth, and I don't own an iphone. But I would personally refrain from displaying any valuable electronics on the street while alone in the wee hours of the morning. Similarly, I would not be counting the cash in my wallet, or displaying my wallet, in the same situation.
Homeland Conspiracy
Tue, May 7, 2013 : 11:53 a.m.
WHAT you don't have an iphone..pffff
GoNavy
Mon, May 6, 2013 : 8:31 p.m.
It's actually worth quite a lot of money - in the range of several hundred dollars based on the model.
you can't handle the truth
Mon, May 6, 2013 : 6:43 p.m.
An iphone is worth an instant hundo or so credit in the dope house.
justcurious
Mon, May 6, 2013 : 5:25 p.m.
This seems to be business as usual. Have the citizens of Ann Arbor gotten used to this stuff happening? Is there any discussion at city council meetings about the escalating crime? Or is this to just be accepted as the population increases? Is it time for Guardian Angels to start patrolling the streets? This is not the Ann Arbor I grew up in.
Jon Wax
Tue, May 7, 2013 : 12:41 p.m.
Michigans a SYG state. none of these events should be happening. 50% on the victim. see what happens if you try that on a legal CPL holder. Peace Wax
JRW
Tue, May 7, 2013 : 1:08 a.m.
Definitely a lot has changed in the last 10-15 years. The high resale value of iphones contributes, but students and others need to stop walking around alone in the middle of the night in central A2. No, it's not the same city it was a decade ago, in many ways, not just the crime.
johnnya2
Mon, May 6, 2013 : 7:37 p.m.
Numbers don't lie. Crime IS down. The fact that something happens and is reported in an online local site does not mean there are more crimes, there just means there are more reported. The problem is people believe only what they have seen lately.
you can't handle the truth
Mon, May 6, 2013 : 6:42 p.m.
You are supposed to just listen to the mayor when he says that "Crime is down!" Nevermind the fact that anyone who has been around for any decent amount of time and has a brain, eyes, ears, and common sense knows better.
Westfringe
Mon, May 6, 2013 : 4:58 p.m.
No description what so ever? Some how I don't believe that.
lefty48197
Mon, May 6, 2013 : 6:59 p.m.
The victim noticed that people were following him, but can't describe them apparently.
PineyWoodsGuy
Mon, May 6, 2013 : 4:39 p.m.
Where are Univ Mich Police when you need them? 200 S. State is right out in front of the new North Quad. Because 200 S. State in contiguous (adjacent) to Univ Mich real estate, it is within the jurisdiction of the currently leaderless Univ Mich Public Safety ("Police"). Yes! Campus needs pro-active public safety patrols at 2:00AM.
MikeyP
Mon, May 6, 2013 : 7:28 p.m.
Actually... North Quad is in the 100 block of S. State St. (105 S. State St. to be exact), the 200 block is south of E. Washington and north of E. Liberty, the only part of that stretch that is adjacent to UofM property is the sidewalk in front of Lane Hall, so almost all of it is in AAPD's jurisdiction. Not that they can have officers in every part of their jurisdiction 100% of the time (nobody can), but PWG is getting the location wrong and making a wrong assumption based upon it unfortunately.
PineyWoodsGuy
Mon, May 6, 2013 : 7:14 p.m.
@Nicholas Urfe. Do you see this as an A2 Police responsibility? I see it as an Univ Mich Police responsibility. Univ Mich took the jurisdiction by getting a law thru the legislature; now Require Univ Mich to patrol it! Yer A2 tax dollars got nothing to do with it Nick.
Nicholas Urfe
Mon, May 6, 2013 : 6:06 p.m.
Sorry, but I am not paying for a cop on every corner. Never will.