Man Robbed of Two Phones Within a Few Minutes

Two phones were stolen from a man in northwest D.C. within just a few minutes about 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Computer whiz Nisan Cohen, 26, was texting and listening to music on Kenyon Street in Petworth when someone rolled him and took his phone. During the struggle, Cohen took the thief’s phone.

“Somebody basically lunged into me and grabbed my phone and in the process dropped his phone, which I then grabbed myself and tried to chase after him,” Cohen said.

As Cohen chased, he offered an exchange of the phones but he lost the robber.

Then the robber’s phone rang, and Cohen answered. He soon realized the guy he was talking to was standing just a few feet away, so Cohen approached him and spoke to him eye-to-eye. He told Cohen he was calling someone about a drug deal. But that guy said he couldn’t help Cohen get his phone back.

“He said he didn’t know who the kid was and probably wouldn’t be able to help,” Cohen said.

So Cohen walked away, thinking it was over, but half a block away, he realized the guy he’d just spoken to was following him.

“When I turned around, he held me up at gunpoint and said, ‘Give me the phone back, meaning the robber’s phone that I had in my possession at the time.”

Police are looking into whether the two robbers are partners, sources told News4.