Muni iPhone Theft on the 38-Geary
Photo by Steve Rhodes
A young woman’s iPhone was stolen [last Tuesday] by two young men on the 38L outbound bus. The victim was seated in the third seat on the same side as the door, between the second door and the accordion section. The taller of the two men snatched her iPhone and ran off at the Fillmore stop at approximately 8:15-8:20 pm.
The noted modus operandi seems to be operating in pairs and stake out their victim by standing near or in front of the potential mark near the door with frequent texting on older non-smartphone phones, making frequent eye contacts with each other. They seem to frequently target women who are distracted or using their phone during non-commute hours.
Other passengers soon informed the driver of what happened, but the driver said he could not do anything since the victim is gone. He called central and reported the incident.
Matt described the thieves as two young black men, one overweight with some facial hair and the other tall and lanky, both wearing all black. This was one of the string of phone thefts on Muni, so use common sense and be aware of your environment!
p.s. Here’s some information from SFPD on how to file a police report.