Surveillance Video Shows iPad Thieves Who Ripped Off Man's Finger

By: Edecio Martinez, Neil Katz
Topics: Caught on Tape

A surveillance image of the suspect (Denver Police Dept.)

DENVER (CBS/KCNC) Denver police have released surveillance video of a brazen thief that ripped off the victim's finger while ripping off his brand new iPad.

"I saw just a bone, all the skin and tendons and everything were off," Bill Jordan told CBS affiliate KCNC.

On Monday, Jordan picked up Apple's latest gadget in a Denver-area mall for a co-worker who had been promoted.

He left the Apple store with his iPad bag tied around his hand. Surveillance video shows two African-American men on an escalator following him.

Local Video from CBS4 in Denver

"The film shows them walking right behind me down the stairs as I was going out the store," Jordan explained.

A few feet from the doors to the parking garage Jordan felt a violent tugging at his arm. He looked down and saw a young man trying to grab his bag, reports KCNC.

"He was almost sitting on the ground he was pulling so hard and it was still tied around my fingers; and it wouldn't come off and then finally he gave it one big jerk; and that's when he stripped the skin off my pinky and it went right down to the bone."

The robber grabbed the iPad and ran out of the mall.

Jordan said he went into shock and used napkins from a food vendor to try and stop the bleeding. Paramedics rushed him to a hand surgeon who told him part of his left pinky would have to be amputated.

Now with his hand covered in bandages and his hand permanently damaged, Jordan has a message for the brazen criminals.

"I hope you understand what you've done to my life and my family's life for a simple piece of apparatus that'll be junk in a couple of years."

Ironically, Jordan told KCNC that he moved his family to Colorado from New Jersey 15 years ago to get away from crime there. Now after the iPad theft, he said his life and the life of his family will never be the same.

Metro Denver Crimestoppers is offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the capture and conviction of the suspects. To file an anonymous report, call 720-913-STOP or text message to 274637 (CRIMES), title DMCS & enter your message.

Reporting Contributed by CBS Affiliate KCNC

LINKS
April 20, 2010 - iPad Thief Rips Off Victim's Pinky, Too

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by Htos1 May 23, 2010 3:56 AM EDT: NEVER go to a mall,buy online.; Reply to this comment


by ge556 April 22, 2010 2:52 PM EDT: Why can't reporters and cops distinguish between suspects and perpetrators?
There are no suspects.; Reply to this comment


by freddyfrugag April 22, 2010 2:49 PM EDT: This is in a really nice mall in a very exclusive area. Probably contributed to the customer's lack of paranoia. Now if they'd just put those Apple Stores in a ghetto, or near gun-toting right-wing truck-drivin' areas, there would at least be a level of preparedness, and these gush durned things wouldn't happen! ;)

They should hire Dick Cheney to escort customers to their cars.; Reply to this comment


by NowBeWithThat April 22, 2010 1:43 PM EDT: by wjksea April 22, 2010 1:02 AM EDT
I was cognizant when I walked 40 feet from the store entrance to my car ... carrying a 15 inch Mac Book Pro.
_________________________

Good for you. Glad you made it. But that's what make me mad, wjksea.

You shouldn't have to look over your shoulder or carry a piece when you're shopping at a tech store. It's insane.

I so hope they catch this guy... grrr!; Reply to this comment


by kayers43yahoocom April 22, 2010 12:42 PM EDT: There's no making these kinds of people UNDERSTAND what they've done to
a normal person. The # of brain cells simply put, have NEVER BEEN
there since they were born. Someday there will be a better way to
account for this lack of humanity at birth.; Reply to this comment


by amerilatino April 22, 2010 11:58 AM EDT: Happy I live in a gun state, if it had been me I would've popped two in the thug's hat.; Reply to this comment


by cbsblogger April 22, 2010 11:22 AM EDT: Why do certain ethnic groups seem to gravitate towards crime based upon their over representation as compared to the general public?

Why is it no surprise to see a black involved in a hate crime stealing from a white? At the root of street crime is DNA and heredity. Why is it no surprise that financial crimes were perpetrated by Madoff, Sam Israel, Arthur Nadel, Robert Maxwell, Reed Slatkin, etc. How else can a obvious predisposition be rationalized other than through genetics as based upon the numbers involved compared to the general population.; Reply to this comment


by excop1949 April 22, 2010 9:17 AM EDT: "I hope you understand what you've done to my life and my family's life for a simple piece of apparatus that'll be junk in a couple of years."

I HATE TO BURST YOUR BUBBLE, BUT IF THEY CARED ABOUT YOU AND YOUR FAMILY, THEY WOULDN'T HAVE DONE IT.; Reply to this comment


by tizzysurffs April 22, 2010 8:30 AM EDT: "I ain't do nothing" and "that ain't me man" You are a thief! Stop letting these criminals out so fast. If the prison is crowd then put more in one cell. Wake up it is getting almost like a war zone. People stock pile weapons I read in another story, this creep rips off a person's finger; I mean where does it end? Just catch him and put him behind bars and none of that sad story business.; Reply to this comment


by wjksea April 22, 2010 1:02 AM EDT: I was cognizant when I walked 40 feet from the store entrance to my car on a bright sunny day of any potential lurking degenerates while carrying a 15 inch Mac Book Pro. These devices are small and expensive. Iphones etc. people carry them as they are designed to like a pad of paper but the price tag is appreciably different. Shopping malls some more than others are good places to avoid. There are other options for purchasing such products.; Reply to this comment