Seattle Crime: Teen has iPhone stolen for second time

A teen with terrible luck was robbed for his iPhone earlier this week near 23rd and Yesler. This was the second time the teen had an iPhone stolen, according to Seattle Crime:

The boy—who is approximately 13 years old, according to the report—was waiting at a bus stop on 23rd and Yesler around 3:45 pm on March 14th, and was using his iPhone to look up the bus schedule when an older boy in his late teens approached him.

The suspect then told the boy “kid, give me your phone.”

The report says the victim—who was assaulted when he was robbed for his iPhone in a prior incident—quickly handed his phone over to the suspect, who then fled.

Police searched around 23rd and Yesler, but didn’t find the suspect.

0 thoughts on “Seattle Crime: Teen has iPhone stolen for second time

  1. I know huh? The dumbness of this is astounding. Maybe if the kid hung out in a better neighborhood but giving your kid an iPhone and letting him (repeatedly) hang out around 23rd and Union/Yesler/Jackson is asking for it.

    wow. what a waste of cop time

  2. Wow, nice words of compassion folks. How about “man, that sucks. I really feel for that kid.” I remember waiting for the bus at 23rd/Union when I was a kid back in the 80s and another older kid came up and demanded that I give him my money. I gave him my money (only a couple of bucks) and didn’t get hurt, but it was still terrifying and I still remember it quite vividly. Who cares about whether or not a 13-yr old should or should not have an iphone? The point is that he’s had it stolen from him twice. That’s terrible and I know it’ll stick with him for a long time. And what does “letting him hang out around 23rd and Union/Yesler” mean? Apparently he lives nearby and doesn’t own a car (being 13), so if he needs to get somewhere and his parents aren’t around to drive him there, he takes the bus. I don’t see what’s wrong with that. We should all be able to wait at a bus stop (whether we’re 13 or 40) and not have to worry about being mugged. Period.

  3. I’m not going to go so far as to say that a 13 year old should be robbed, but you have to expect that if you flaunt wealth in a neighborhood where people can’t afford such luxuries, you have to expect something like this might happen. You wouldn’t walk around holding a $400 bill at 23rd and Yesler right? Right. Way to rub your money in people’s face, kid. Maybe try some volunteer work at a local food bank or soup kitchen to see how the rest of us live.

  4. Only making a rather innocent statement….I don’t think that its okay for someone to get robbed and in no way did I make that implication in the very small sentence I stated above. I was just surprised that a 13 year old had an iphone. Thats it. No need to be admonished or told how I should respond. Geez….

  5. you dont even know the circumstances of how that phone. Maybe he saved money and got it. Maybe it was his parents, and they were concerned so he was using it until he arrived at his destination. As far as how the rest of us live????? that sounded like you are speaking about something you dont know too much about. :) This child is 13 and to have this happen not once, but twice, and you seem to think he was asking for it. You probably take the same point of view when a woman is sexually attacked. You need sensitivity/compassion training.

  6. I am continually surprised by how many young people have expensive phones, iPods, even computers, even when I know their families don’t have disposable income to spend on such “luxuries”. I know many kids buy them off of friends (stolen, maybe, or maybe just left over when someone upgraded?) or off of Craig’s List and take them to be “unlocked” by people who make a living rigging these kinds of electronics. That kid could have been from a wealthy family, or maybe not. As it is the iPhone 3s are only $49 at AT&T right now if you have an upgrade…try buying ANY phone for $49 these days.

    I do feel bad for the kid, and I hope he’ll be more careful – and this is a reminder to ALL of us to be more thoughtful about where and how we use our electronics. I’m constantly paranoid of my daughter walking to school listening to her iPod, let alone messing with her phone. This is another reason to reminder her to be aware of her surroundings and mindful of her actions.

  7. another reminder why I moved to Mercer Island. Say what you want, but people here just don’t do this kind of shit. Glad my kids don’t have to wait for the bus near people who do.

  8. Yeah but Mike, if I moved to Mercer Island I’d be stuck living on the same island with an arrogant asshole like you.

    Although i’ll bet the views are stunning from your high horse.

  9. Of course there’s that issue of higher rates of accident-related fatalities in the suburbs, but I’m sure you figured that into your calculation when you moved to your auto-dependent enclave

  10. Oh grow up and get that chip off your shoulder. 1st gen Iphones are $49.00. My son is 15 and makes $80 a month babysitting and $20 each time he rakes the neighbor’s leaves. He also has done, through his school, far more sandwich making for homeless shelters, feeding at Union Gospel Mission, making toiletry packages at the Lazarus Center and lunch-bag hand outs for the homeless, as well as working at Children’s hospital – again through his school – than most adults on this page ever do. Stow your racism, classism, jealousy based on false numbers and stop blaming the victim. It’s people with attitudes like yours that make our neighborhood rife with acceptable crime. Why NOT rob children when all the neighbors will blame the victim? Disgusting.

  11. They’re $49. And to answer your question, oh, about 75% of the kids at Washington Middle School, if the ones hanging out in Starbucks on their iphones are any indication.

  12. Actually I ride my bike to work in Seattle everyday. And I like my high horse too though. I used to live in Leschi, then too many people started getting murdered and robbed for my liking. Sorry it angers you so.

  13. Yeah Leschi is a ghetto, for sure. I hear you on that. There isn’t even a Starbucks. It’s a concrete jungle wasteland.

    Well hopefully someday I can be a supercool elitist just like you. I’ll be sure to brag about it too. You’re my inspiration, Mike.

  14. The cost for one that is being quoted here is just for the phone and does not include the address monthly charge for the plan in addition to the regular monthly fees for a cell phone. That is where it would seem to get expensive for a family since each phone has to have its own plan. The phone by itself is affordable.

  15. This is the craziest thread I have read on here. Justifying stealing because one person can afford something that someone else can’t? WHo the heck is one person to judge whatanother spends their money on anyway? Eat the rich? This is America isn’t it!

  16. Such anger….
    I would have liked to stay in Leschi, but the culture of violence that permeates that and nearby areas was too much for me to handle with two toddlers. Why are you so angry that I would dare comment on the biggest problem with Leschi and the CD? I was/am frustrated. How do we change or influence culture etc? By taking part in forums like this.
    And yes, I am an elitist, I have biracial kids, I ride a bike, I recycle, I voted for Obama, I drive a hybrid yadayada

  17. Like I’ve said before…. we may have the occasional mugger or drug dealer here in the CD, but MI has the occasional SERIAL KILLER…. you all fool yourself if you think MI has any fewer problems than the CD – ours are just tend to be more public…. btw Leshi does have a Starbucks

  18. I’m not sure that too many are judging one way or the other. The subject just changed a bit to the idea of smart type phones. The way the charges are handled on any cell phone is irritating. Both parties pay in some way for every call. Texting is extra when it uses less bandwith. I was just thinking that when I was in college generally I had roommates and we shared one phone bill with one number. Now the expectation is different. Nonetheless, much more expensive.

  19. I’m an elitist serial killer too. I always compost my victims. My kids don’t have iphones though.

  20. Each phone does not have to have its own plan. My kids share a plan with their parents. Each added line after the 3rd is $10. They use virtually no minutes, as they’re always texting, so it costs less than their bus passes.

  21. Mike – Thank you for your post and for the laugh at the end. Many of us with small children, even those of us born and raised in the CD, had to get the heck out by the time our kids were old enough to see what we were living with. Being threatened, witness to endless violence right in front of the house, naked crack heads in the front yard (same guy, twice), our cars broken in to so many time that our insurance dropped us, my car stolen eventually, cars still running stolen and abandoned on our block, our house robbed while we slept, the kids bikes stolen, lawnmower stolen, etc, etc, etc. The area around 26th and Jackson, where I lived for 15+ years, was one of not occassional crime, but of daily, relentless, never ending crime. Our crime file, which we started as an attempt to document things in an effort to get a drug house abated, had 342 entries in 2 years. Everything that wasn’t nailed down was stolen. The only people who ever knocked at my door were criminals and scammers. We had 5, count them, 5 houses on our 1 block where felons lived. That block is still – judging from recent posts on this forum – completely plagued by the actions of 2 particular families, and all their druggy associates. One of the burglaries that happened while we lived there the neighbors literally sat on their porches and watched because “we don’t call the police.” (They did, however, like us enough to tell us where to find the burlgars in case WE wanted to tell the police. Thanks, neighbor.) I grew up in the CD, went to CD schools, etc., and still, when I had kids who couldn’t ride their bikes in front of the house without being victimized, I sold and moved north. So did the woman who owned my house before me, when her kids reached 10 or so. So did the people next to me and across the street. We all sold, and our really cool, triple-lot houses were knocked down and ugly skinny houses put up. Now the folks in the skinny houses live behind a wall of gates to not be victimized by the same generation upon generation of criminals living in those same felon houses on that block. Bash Mercer Island all you like, but I’ll bet it is not a routine occurrance in MI for people to knock on your door, every other month, casing your house and scamming you, and for those people to be your neighbors. I’ll take the once in a blue moon serial killer ANY day over the daily, endless, onslaught of crime, crime, crime we went through before finally getting out of dodge. The people who post on here insisting that crime is not a freaking plague in the CD are in denial. It isn’t disloyal to your hood’ to say that you have a drug and crime problem . You’re actually a BETTER neighbor if you try to address it before the few neighbors who give a crap flee.

  22. These posts crack me up.  Why on earth would you take the time to post on a neighborhood blog where you no longer live?  I grew up on MI and it was awful.  I would never think to go find a Mercer Island blog and post about how much better my life is now that I don’t live there any longer.  

    I have been offered my parents home on MI and I have turned it down.  I don’t like the vibe of the Island and the values of a large portion of the people who live there.   

    The CD has issues, but MI has them too…..it just isn’t in your face.  Wait until your child hits middle school and the values of community will become very clear.   (It was at that point that my parents sent me to a Seattle private school. My expensive private school had 10 times the diversity of MI high school and was committed to exposing the students to variety of experiences and perspectives).     

    I happen to live on a fantastic block that is extremely community minded, diverse and kid-friendly.  (We didn’t have an ounce of that growing up….. hardly spoke to our neighbors).  I’ve lived in the CD for 12 years….in two homes and have never been burglarized…knock  on wood.  However my childhood home on MI was. 

    “C” and Mike, sorry to here you had bad experiences when you lived here.  Perhaps your remarks would be better received if you posted about how great your life is on your current neighborhood’s blog.    
           

  23. Did you consider moving to a different part of the CD? It’s true the spot you lived was bad but the entire CD is not like that. It has never been like that on every block in the CD.

  24. Smart phones, iphones are an example, have individual data plans. These are cell phones that allow you to access the web. Regular cell phones have family type shared phone plans that you describe. If you know of a smart phone that does not require an individual data plan, please let me know. It would be great to look into it.

  25. Good riddance, to compare Mercer Island to Leschi/CD is absurd – you are on a freakin island in the middle of nowhere. Try finding some culture, a decent bar or restaurant in that place, let alone cabbing it from somewhere downtown. You may as well live in Greenland, it’s so remote. And to echo another person’s comments – quit reading blogs about places you used to live and now detest. I’ve only lived in Leschi for a few years but love it – the community is great, there is amazing diversity and oh, ya, it’s SEATTLE. East side wannabe.

  26. Yes, JB. I have lived in 5 houses in the CD, having been a lifelong resident since the 60’s. In Madrona, back when it was a bad neighborhood (yes, it was that once) when I was a kid our house was robbed at night and the burglars killed our dog. My brother was hit in the skull with a rock for his lunch money walking to St. T’s. On 29th and John in the 80’s, in my first house, we had drive by shootings (twice) in front of our house and endless drug dealing, and a man killed via a pitchfork from a neighbors yard rammed through his head. This was at a time when SPD was just learning “Oh my God, gangs have come to Seattle.” Nearer to Jackson was the absolute worst – although obviously we didn’t know it when moving, and eventually all of the good neighbors were run out, over a period of 15 years or so. Now, from what I read on here, my old block is still – and even worse – crack dealer central. Interestingly I work in a law enforcement support position and so read CD police reports all day every day, so read about my old block a lot. I read about how the kid who was my son’s playmate in kindergarten is now dealing crack at 19 and already a felon, still living in the same house. Currently I live in the northern most part of the CD and it’s heaven compared to the old hood just 5 minutes south. On my current block crime is so scarce I almost forget what it was like to dread hearing footsteps on my porch, or to hear gunshots at night. I feel sorry for the people still living on my old block, especially when those who live on the blocks around them insist on shouting “I love the CD thus there is no crime here!” I love the CD too, but the crime problem was, and is, really, really horrible for many residents.

  27. Thanks for your comments — it is almost impossible to mention your points without provoking an emotional backlash. I’m sure you have noticed that Obama-voting, Prius-driving composters aren’t supposed to speak certain opinions, and yet you did anyway, so thanks.