Man Steals Cell Phone, Runs Away, Gets Caught, Gets Arrested

Around 4:05pm on November 5, Athens Clarke County Police officers responded to a robbery that had just occurred on South Pope Street.

A woman said as she arrived at her home, a man approached and asked if she could give him a ride to an Atlanta Highway location. She told him no and he asked to use her cellphone. She unlocked her phone and the suspect grabbed it from her hands and fled on foot.

The woman chased him down Pope Street while yelling at him to return the phone. The suspect eventually stopped, placed the phone on the ground, and fled on foot.

The woman retrieved the phone, ran back to her residence, and called 911. She described the suspect to offices. A short time later, a University of Georgia officer had contact with a subject at a Baxter Street business who matched the description.

The woman was transported to that location, where she identified the man as the offender, and he was arrested. A search of his person turned up a new cell phone in his pocket.

Police searched a duffle bag he was carrying and found a box addressed to an Athens resident which that cell phone had been shipped. Contact was made with the intended recipient, who said he was expecting a cell phone to be delivered but it had not been received.

Samuel Louis Friedman, 24, Sea Island, was charged with Robbery by Force and Theft by Taking.