Student beats off robber with Blackberry phone

Note to all Blackberry owners, your life is worth more than a PING!{{more}}

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Lenroy Brewster is warning that persons should assess carefully their situation, before trying to fend off would-be robbers who are trying to relieve them of their possessions, especially Blackberry handsets, which are becoming a prime target for bandits.

His statements stem from what he noted as a prevalence of Blackberry-related robberies, perpetrated mainly on unsuspecting women and girls.

The most recent public occurrence took place just after 8 p.m. last Thursday, April 8, as a Girls’ High School (GHS) student was about to enter Frenches House, where the GHS lecture series was taking place.

“This guy just rush up to me out of nowhere and grabbed on to my purse and say ‘Gimme what you have,’” the student recounted to SEARCHLIGHT.

“When I started to scream and cry for help, he grabbed my Blackberry and say ‘Gimme this.’”

The young woman said that out of either fear or adrenaline, she held on to her prized handset and the bandit’s shirt and proceeded to hit him on his head, as she continued to scream for assistance.

When some men who were in the area rushed to her assistance, the thief took off empty-handed, running through a backyard and then a vacant lot, before disappearing into the night.

The frightened student said that while the incident was taking place, she was more concerned about her own safety than of keeping her phone.

“I think I did the right thing, but on hindsight, I am thinking that he could have had a knife or something and could have hurt me.”

Brewster said that the young woman’s actions could be understandable if she was acting on impulse, but it is not always a wise thing to fight with a robber over an item like a cell phone.

“It makes no sense that you lose your life for a Blackberry that can be replaced, but your life cannot be replaced. It may be best to give up what they want… Sometimes the wisest thing to do is to free it up,” Brewster cautioned.

“Sometimes when incidents like this happen a person acting on impulse may decide ‘You not going to get my Blackberry’ and in this case she turned out the victor… and then it could have turned out the other way, and if she had gotten hurt, people would have said that she is foolish,” Brewster opined.

Brewster advised that it may be best to be calm, and if possible assess the situation, keep your eyes on the assailant, give up the commodity, if you are not certain that you could escape the robber.

He said that although he cannot say that there is an increase in phone-related robberies and thefts, there seems to be a common occurrence of the crime.

Brewster said that he noticed the increase in persons who are walking around texting or ‘BBMing’ on their phones, which he stated is making themselves and their phones targets for persons who may be lurking in unsuspecting areas.

“I think that is a bad practice. I think people should desist from that practice… walking in lonely places with phones in their hands or by their face talking…. Sometimes, I don’t know if they are trying to detract persons to make them think they have company… but it could be easy for somebody to just run up and snatch your phone and run,” Brewster warned.

Brewster also had a word of caution for persons who may want to assist a victim of robbery or other crimes.

“If a person is running in a dark area, it makes no sense that you are going to chase after that person. If it is a crowded area where you could alert other persons on the road, do so. But, if a person is fleeing away to a dark alley, why would you want to chase after that person? You are putting yourself at serious risk.

“It is not wise that you would chase someone in an isolated area unless you have something to protect yourself,” said Brewster.

The ACP said that persons should always be aware of their environment, since crime is not always isolated to any specific areas.

In the past, persons who opted to protect their prized possessions have been injured.

In January, this year, Jamaican dancehall artiste Demar ‘Copper Cat’ Graham grabbed world headlines, not for his linguistic skills, but after he was shot in the head by an assailant, who killed him for his Blackberry handset.