Smartphones Continue To Be Targeted By Thieves In Downtown Bars

DENVER (CBS4) - Thieves are striking all the time in Denver's Lower Downtown, taking cellphones from pockets or purses, and victims often don't even know they're being targeted.

In the most recent case, Jessica Guzinski's purse was across her body when someone reached in and grabbed her cellphone in seconds.

"Well I have a little magnetic buckle so my phone was right here under this buckle," Guzinski said.

Saturday night she was at the Ginn Mill in LoDo. Guzinski said she didn't even notice when someone reached in and stole her phone.

"I checked my phone, put it back in my bag, walked across the bar where it's really crowded and checked for my phone again and it was gone," she said.

It's a recurring problem: earlier this year that same bar told CBS4 they had 12 to 15 cellphones stolen per weekend, forcing them to increase security.

They caught one thief on camera.

"Two thieves when we caught them had had 6-7 cellphones on them," said Ginn Mill manager Jimmy Shviraga.

Locking the phone and reporting it stolen can keep thieves from using it, but they'll still make hundreds by selling the pieces.

Denver police say so far this year there have been about 100 cellphone thefts a month. Many of them are incidents just like this.

"I hope that other people are a lot more cognizant of what's happening, so they go in and they can feel safe," Guzinski said.

If investing hundreds of dollars in a smartphone, the option to include theft insurance can help save those hundreds if it were to be stolen.