An accused phone snatcher is facing felony charges after a group of good Samaritans chased him down and held him for police in the Loop.
A 25-year-old Old Town woman told police that a man snatched her phone from her hand as she stood at a bus stop on the 100 block of North LaSalle around 8:20 p.m. last Monday. The woman ran after the thief and four men joined in the chase after she screamed for help.
Police said they arrived a few minutes later to find a group of men pinning 21-year-old Trevon Young to the ground at the corner of Dearborn and Randolph.
Officers searched Young and found the woman’s phone in his possession, police said. Young was also carrying another phone that police later determined had been reported stolen by a South Side woman.
Police said the phone snatching was captured on video by a CPD surveillance camera outside City Hall.
Prosecutors charged Young with felony theft and misdemeanor theft of lost or mislaid property. Judge John Lyke released Young on his own recognizance and ordered him to go on electronic monitoring while awaiting trial.