Once again today at noon, a cellphone was snatched at the 16th Street BART Station.
A small crime, but one we write about repeatedly to remind readers – never, ever take your phone out at the 16th Street BART station. Countless phones have been snatched on the train and as riders go up the escalators.
This mugging occurred at noon when London Stone, a student, was sitting in the middle of the train, but near the door, checking her e-mail on her new iPhone.
“All of a sudden my phone was hijacked,” she said. Three teenage girls – 14 or 15 years of age, she estimated – ran up the stairs, out the gate and up the escalator. She pursued them, but they were gone by the time she reached the plaza.
The girls were black and one of them had on a mustard coat, Stone said.
She reported the crime to Paula Fraser, the assistant chief transportation officer for BART, who just happened to be at the station to attend a meeting of merchants and elected officials over the yet to be cleaned up plaza.
Fraser said the incident was probably on video and had the car number – 455.
Crime is trauma and the county offers different services. Here is a link to a page of services.
Victims of violent crime can also contact the Trauma Recovery Center at UCSF.