Man Has Phone Stolen, Steals It Back From Thief

A man who had his phone stolen last week pulled a fast one on the crook in a daring touché move.

A cell phone was reported stolen at the Circle K gas station on Ignacio Boulevard at 6:51 p.m. Thursday evening, according to . A man left his cell phone on the counter, and then when he realized his mistake he returned to retrieve it. Too late; it was gone.

Employees played back a surveillance tape and discovered that a black man approximately 20 years old had taken the phone. The man then called his cell phone where upon a thief answered and demanded $30 for the return of the phone, according to the police report.

The man agreed and set up a meeting at the about two miles down the road on Alameda del Prado.

The man went to meet the thief and recognized the suspect from the video sitting in a car. He approached the vehicle and in the course of making an exchange he grabbed the phone from the thief’s hand and ran off. There was no money exchanged, police said.  

The man said he ran back to his vehicle and then drove away with the thief following him out of the parking lot. The man drove over the Highway 101 overpass at Nave Drive and eluded his follower.