Kudos to Austin Police Department

I was assaulted and robbed on Saturday 7/21/12 in broad daylight at about 5:30pm. Here is my story. Karen ( my wife ), Debbie ( wife’s friend ) and I had just finished a meal at Gueros Taco Bar on South Congress Avenue. After the meal we all proceeded south on the west side of congress visiting various shops. I told Karen that I was going to walk down the street to get a cup of coffee. I was just about to enter Cafe Italiano when I received a phone call. I answered the phone and turned facing north towards the capital. The next thing I know is someone hits me in the side of my face holding my phone and grabs my iPhone. I was momentarily startled. I saw a young black man running away with my phone in his hand. I followed him around the corner as he headed west on Milton and realized there was no way I could catch him since I had sandals on. The assailant was with three other men ( two black and one hispanic ). There was also a man walking east on Milton with a small child who was talking on his phone. I asked him to call 911. I was amazed that the Austin police arrived in about 2 minutes. The police then swarmed the area looking for the assailants. They also dispatched a helicopter. They quickly caught three of them and had the last one blocked into a particular area. They next called in K-9 and they got the last one of them. I next had to ID them and go to the police station to fill out a report and meet with a detective.

The police recovered my iPhone.

My face is swollen and sore where I was hit but other than being shook up – I am fine.

I was amazed at how well the Austin police worked as a team to catch the bad guys! They were very courteous and treated me very well. I would like to commend the following police offices for an outstanding job:
Air-2 (helicopter)
K-9 Units
K. Perrydoe badge 7228
J. Perkins (D302)
R. Ranger badge 7228
J. Brown badge 5610
A. Milam badge 7248
R. Smith badge 4501
D. Leija (D390)
A. Edwards (D406)
Kunkel (D501)
J. Hernandez (D504)
Sanders (D505)
Sadien (D507)
Hawkins (D590)

My apologies if I missed anyone.

Here are some addition security tips for your iPhone.

Make sure you have a security code enabled on your phone.

Be sure to install a free app named Find My iPhone. When the app is installed you can type in your apple ID and password into any OTHER apple device that has this app installed and it will show you the location of the iPhone. Be sure to use the police to retrieve your phone if it was stolen.