Around 3:30 p.m. Friday afternoon, opportunistic cell phone thieves struck again on Divisadero, where the neighborhood is quickly becoming the city's #1 spot for snatchy-grabby phone robberies. The latest event happened at the corner of Oak and Divis, where a victim's iPhone was plucked right out of a coffee shop window by two suspects who quickly fled on foot.
Officers responding to the scene at Vinyl Coffee & Wine Bar, where this SFist editor happened to be present when the crime occured, took down a description of the two suspects, but couldn't offer much immediate help in the case. Attempts to track the phone through Apple's Find My iPhone service, as well as 3rd party tracking software the owner had installed, showed it popping up in UN Plaza at 7th and Market Streets less than 30 minutes after the robbery. Although it's hardly an official statement from the two cops on the scene, the officers suspected it had already been sold at that point.
Anyway, let this be another cautionary tale, folks. You should probably never remove your cellphone from your purse or pocket. Ever. And definitely don't leave it in an open window next to a bus stop.