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BOLO for callous jerk: Police say man watched woman die under Red Line train, then stole her phone

Downtown Crossing jerk

Surveillance photo via Transit Police.

UPDATE: Suspect turned self in.

Transit Police say that as a woman lay dying under a Red Line train at Downtown Crossing last night, a guy who watched her jump in front of the train proceeded to steal her phone, which had landed on the platform:

At this time the male depicted within, who we believed observed the incident, walked over to the phone and placed his foot on top of the phone. The male keeps his foot on top of the phone as he scans the area apparently to see if anyone is watching him. The male then reaches down and takes possession of the decedent's phone places it into his pocket and casually walks away.

As you might expect, detectives would love to have a little chat with him. If he looks familiar, contact them at 617-222-1050 or send an anonymous tip to 873873.

Man with foot on the phone:

Man and phone
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Comments

In the dictionary next to the word "Scumbag."

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Odd duck, fashion scarf and ... is that a climbing carabiner or key chain one on his waist with something hanging from it? Strange, callous dude. One can only hope he didn't see the poor soul jump but spotted the phone. Err....looks around to be sure no one is watching? He must know there is video feed everywhere.

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Ugh. He probably didn't know that they were getting such a nice, crisp shot though. Disgusting--hope they nail him ASAP. Do we know whether this was a southbound or northbound train?

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wear a Prince Albert like that.

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On top of theft he should be charged with interfering with a death investigation. Make him an example to others.

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SCUMBAG!!!!

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So, a woman commits suicide in front of this guy, and all he can think is, "Free iPhone 6!"

Karma's a bee-atch.

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Pedantic, but it looks like an iPhone 5c. /phone nerd

What an asshole. Please let us know when he's caught.

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Assuming he saw the incident, how does his brain even consider anything other than complete and utter shock?

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Nice scarf

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Probably stole that scarf from Isadora Duncan

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The twisted Mofo saw an opportunity to take something he wanted.

Like grave robbers, workers stealing from the dead in nursing homes, hospitals, morgues, funeral homes, and accident sites.

Depraved, sick people.

Asians Airlines Crash
http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/30/travel/california-luggage-stolen/

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/26344308/funeral-home-worker-arrested...

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/25531089/lee-co-man-arrested-for-stealing-dea...

Steal groceries from fatal accident scene
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Onlookers-allege...

Trooper Steals from dead crash victim
http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Trooper-Accused-of-Stealing-Fro...

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This is despicable.

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I would say that it's even more despicable that a woman decided to selfishly take her life by jumping in front of a train, thus causing immeasurable mental anguish to the driver and others nearby. The loss of her crap Foxconn-slave-labor-manufactured-piece-of-crap iPhone, not so much.

Given the quality of Apple products I'm sure it's completely unusable now, so maybe this guy was just doing a service to the community by taking it to the recycling.

As usual the MBTA rent-a-cops have nothing better to do but engage in their ridiculous public-shaming campaigns to give Herald readers something to feel righteous about. It would be nice if we could instead see hear about the thousands of corporate kleptocrats who ripped off society today in a much more egregious way, but that sort of reporting takes a little bit more effort and intelligence.

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"I would say that it's even more despicable that a woman decided to selfishly take her life by jumping in front of a train, thus causing immeasurable mental anguish to the driver and others nearby. The loss of her crap Foxconn-slave-labor-manufactured-piece-of-crap iPhone, not so much."

Regardless of whether you sentiment is right or wrong; at this moment there is nothing that can be done to the deceased. This asshole, however, can be caught and punished.

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The dude watched a woman die and then stole her phone. That's sociopathic at minimum, your conspiracy theories aside.

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I don't think dead people can own personal property. One could argue that the phone was abandoned but in any event, it's not like she was going to need it anymore.

There are more important things to get angry about than what's essentially a victimless crime, if it was even a crime at all.

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not to mention the personal information on the phone.

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Well, sure, but people are arguing that he stole a phone from a dead woman. Rationality is overrated. It's much more satisfying to counter self-righteous indignation with obnoxiousness.

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n/t

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De gustibus non est disputandum.

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being a troll is just straight up lame and pathetic.

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The crime is not victimless. That much is clear, but you asserted otherwise.

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but their estates can and do. Once you die, everything you own becomes your "estate". Cash, stocks, bonds, retirement accounts, your car, any real property such as your house, yada. Even personal property like your collection of Baywatch DVDs, your clothes, family photographs, the $40 Casio wristwatch you wear every day, and yes, your iPhone, are all now property of your estate.

The person named as "executor" in the will controls what happens to the property. (If you die without a will, the probate court appoints somebody.) It all gets disposed of per the instructions in the will. For minor personal items like an iPhone, if there's no specific bequest called out in the will, the person might make a guess or a judgment as to whom to give the items to--like the iPhone might go to the woman's (hypothetical) 14yo niece who's been nattering for the last year about wanting an iPhone. Stuff that nobody in the family wants can be sold at an "estate sale" and the cash distributed among the heirs. Stuff that's of little or no resale value, and that nobody in the family wants, can get donated to charity or discarded, as appropriate.

So yes, that crime has a victim: the deceased woman's estate, and, by extension, the eventual beneficiaries of the estate and specifically the person who would have received either the iPhone or the proceeds from its sale.

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Nobody on this thread was hand-wringing about a scumbag who stole a phone from a dead woman's estate. Precise, technical definitions don't stir up lynch mobs.

Don't you get it?

THIS GUY STOLE A PHONE FROM A DEAD WOMAN!!

I'll direct my pity, anger, and moral outrage on behalf of the crime victims who are still living.

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we're agreeing with each other, specifically:

"THIS GUY STOLE A PHONE FROM A DEAD WOMAN!!"

Yup. He's scum, unless there's some other explanation for his behavior that I'm not getting (and I don't think there is).

I was trying to explain why this is reprehensible, and *not* a victimless crime, like, say, smoking marijuana is.

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Sorry. I totally get what you are saying. My capitalized rant was simply an attempt at sarcasm, parroting the people who are getting so worked up over this.

The guy is immaterial to me. I worry more about pitchfork-wielding villagers.

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Are ya FUC*** kidding me, dude?

There were text messages that she sent right before she died (Yes I know this, this girl was a friend of mine) not to mention pictures. The phone would probably go to her next of kin, you god damn piece of crap no good idiot.

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Call me as many names as you want if it makes you feel better but not everyone buys into the mob mentality.

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nobody selfishly takes their own life, they are mentally ill. Please try to understand how terrible they must be feeling if they are at the point of jumping in front of a train....I hope that you in your perfect inner circle you never have to deal with mental health issues other than yours.

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I mean why would you put your foot on top of the phone? You may risk cracking the glass.

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I really hope they catch this guy. What a cold, despicable act. I cannot imagine how anyone could watch someone commit suicide and then steal their personal effects.

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This story is a tragedy may the poor girl RIP and this freak will get the justice he deserves when he goes to jail

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What ever happened to the UHub community i've learned to know so well at times like this.

No random assumptions of ethnic or religious backgrounds?

No shots at those "damn foreign college kids" making noise in the North End.

Not even a Dzhokhar look-alike comment.

For shame.

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You can always go back to the Herald if you're looking for ignorant stereotyping.

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it was an Obama phone, EBT, Illegals , EBT, hack, hack, hack.... Wingnut Tourettes

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this isn't reddit

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Shitty thing to do for sure. There is something really off about this guy. He's either a vampire, a time traveller, or he's tripping balls. Even on the surveillance camera you can tell his pupils are messed up.

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one of his Facebook friends turns him in.Scumbag, absolute scumbag.

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looks like a third Tsarnaev brother.

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links don't belong on UHub.

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This is how Orphan Black started.

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IMAGE(http://p.o0bc.com/rf/image_700w/Boston/2011-2020/2014/11/07/Boston.com/BCOM/Images/top-2575.jpg )

until you see his foot on the phone. Then you realize he's just hiding a dastardly smile. He knew what he was doing...

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Stefon?

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n/t

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But it isn't like he pushed her or anything. He's an opportunist asshole, but not much different from the people who harass the parents of dead people over student loans that they don't owe. Or any of the bankers that got away with falsification of paperwork schemes that led to foreclosures, etc.

What are the odds that he now turns it in and says "but I was just keeping it safe and didn't know who to give it to"?

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What are the odds that he now turns it in and says "but I was just keeping it safe and didn't know who to give it to"?

I considered this myself. The right thing to do (short of giving it to the police) is to answer it when someone calls and try to figure out how to get the phone back to the person's family or friends. But seeing as how this story made it as far as a MBTA police tweet I'm guessing that was already tried and failed.

Hopefully the police can track the phone to the guy.

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We've got a live one here for 'ya. Could you help us out? Thx!!!

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n/t

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https://mtc.cdn.vine.co/r/videos/75795D41791142620787178721280_35ef8286d...

Looks like it interrupted his salami-waving session.

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Just wow.

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The thing "hanging" from his ... ugh.

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While I agree this act is despicable, can someone persuade me why the MBTA believes this rises to criminality to the point of issuing a bulletin?

I thankfully did not have to ride the red line yesterday, but as a reasonable empathetic, urbane "young professional" I wonder whether the MBTA police is not already capitalizing on its incompetent handling of the situation, that being of a seemingly suicidal "sociopath" which took her life and inconvenienced the life of thousands...I of course am open to the idea she probably acted on suicidal ideations, perhaps from medicine, and god knows why her life was a turbulent as it was...

But...

As others have pointed out, it's not the first such incident on the MBTA lately, (or the Tobin) and people can get understandably callous if it becomes a routine affair.

I guess maybe I'm inured to violence? When thugs take each other out, I pity the families, and wonder what they did to "eat their young" as it were, through negligence, etc., to the point someone would rather choose to end their lives quite publicly.

I do not care about this woman's phone, nor do I believe others here do, and it disturbs me if the limited resources of the law enforcement arm of the MBTA believe this will lead to anything productive for its core constituency, the riders, it seems we need to protect ourselves against suicidal people, and improve rider safety overall...

I do not know how searching for this Mofo will help.

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Have you considered that the phone may have been useful for those conducting an investigation of the incident? For all we know, she could have left a farewell message on it. On the other hand, if there was evidence on the phone that she was looking forward to any number of things she had scheduled in the future, it may lead to the possibility of an accident, not a suicide. No one cares about the value of the phone, but this may have hampered an accident investigation by removing evidence. Personally, I find this person's behavior appalling and ghoulish - I'm sure a family member would claim the phone and whatever photos or messages may be on it.

And in what what way are the T police incompetent? Must have missed something. Were they supposed to catch her?

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The phone belongs to the estate of the decedent. There may be information on the phone that would be of use to either the MBTA investigators, the family or heirs of the deceased, or other investigators.

At worst, it's evidence, and he's tampering with it. Obstruction of Justice carries a hefty sentence (look at the poor schmo who just got sentenced for being a stoner friend of the younger Tsarnaev).

At best, he's a scumbag, and should spend the next year of Saturdays picking up garbage along an interstate.

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It's evidence in a crime scene. Why are people so quick to act like once you die nothing matters and the scum can just take your smart phones.

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you have to identify yourself as a "as a reasonable empathetic, urbane "young professional" it usually means you're not, as your incredibly callous post showed. And seeing how you're so "urbane" maybe you should get used to the fact that people kill themselves all the time in the big city and I'm sorry if someone's desire to take their own life tragically inconvenienced you.

Maybe you should move to Portlandia.

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... who has to live the rest of his life with the fact that, by no fault of his own, he killed someone?

If someone absolutely must commit suicide, there are better ways.

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Garbage-eating shit monster is as garbage-eating shit monster does.

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TPD press release: UPDATE: Phone thief identified and arrested. Turned himself in at Transit Police headquarters at 9:30 last night.

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and then stole her phone, after she'd jumped into the trackbed, in the path of an oncoming MBTA train and committed suicide is a total sick-o, but, I don't think that stealing a dead person's phone is really anything to get up in arms about.

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Charles Dickens would disagree with you....I'm thinking of the chapter in A Christmas Carol where Scrooge's housemaid steals his bed-curtains while his body is still lying there. That should give you some idea of how most people view death-scavaging.

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Cite to 170 year old fictional characters and use them as an example of how "most people" now (or then) support a position that you hold.

Great example of critical thinking.

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