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TMCNet: Boston Herald The Beat column: Teens' cell phone theft reaches epidemic in Hub

[December 22, 2008]

Boston Herald The Beat column: Teens' cell phone theft reaches epidemic in Hub

Dec 22, 2008 (Boston Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
An epidemic of violent cell phone thefts among teenagers is sweeping the Hub, say Boston police, putting kids at risk of robbery if they openly talk or text on their wireless devices.

"Right now it's almost dangerous to carry a cell phone in the city of Boston if you're a young kid," said Lt. Detective Jack Danilecki of District B-2 in Roxbury. "You want kids to worry about going to school and keeping out of trouble -- not some punk who's going to steal their cell phone."

The most commonly swiped phone is the well-marketed Sidekick -- a trendy, wide-screen phone coveted for its ability to interface with social networking Web sites. One in seven robberies in the Hub this year involved a Sidekick.

From Jan. 1 to Dec. 4, a whopping 304 Sidekicks were pilfered, up 200 percent from last year, said Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis. Most victims were hit before or after school, commonly near Madison Park High School, throughout Roxbury Crossing and Columbia Road.

Yet the phones aren't being stolen for personal use. They're stolen, cops say, because of a nascent industry that supports the crime.

Boston police are investigating electronic pawn shops popping up throughout the Hub, some of which allegedly buy used Sidekicks and other stolen phones for up to $300 or more. These stores often flout a city ordinance mandating they document identification from anyone selling a used phone, cops said.

"The fact is that people steal these for economic purposes," Danilecki said.
At one used electronics shop downtown yesterday, a trio of friends each said their Sidekicks were recently swiped.

Frances Dejesus, 19, of Dorchester, was waiting for the bus at Ruggles last winter when a man approached her and said he wanted to get to know her better -- and that she should put his number in her phone. She refused. He snatched her Sidekick, smacked her in the face and ran.

"That phone was my lifeline," she said. "I was heartbroken. It seemed like a part of me was gone."
Cristina Martinez, 18, a Charlestown High School senior, had her Sidekick stolen twice, most recently from her backpack. She replaced it by buying a used one from her friend for $100.

"I didn't ask any questions," she said.
Melvin Claros, 20, said he was walking down a busy road in Chelsea earlier this year when seven thugs mugged him at gunpoint for his Sidekick, the third time he was robbed of the phone.

Boston police are working with federal authorities to track stolen phones and crackdown on the robberies.

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said cell phone thefts are especially dangerous because victims can turn into perpetrators.

Said Conley, "Many of the victims are the very same kids we're trying to divert from criminal activity."

To see more of the Boston Herald or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.bostonherald.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Boston Herald Distributed by
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email
tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax
to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave.,
Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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