‘My cell phone was gone’: St. Pete police investigate 150 stolen wallets, phones this year

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — It was last call at Ruby’s Elixir in downtown St. Petersburg when Corinne Mayers said she was pickpocketed.

“There was a big group of people that rushed by and there was a lot of commotion and I felt a little tug on the bag,” Mayers said. “Before I knew it, my cell phone was gone.”

And to make matters worse, Mayers said the same thing happened to her friends.

“I had three friends that it happened to,” she said. “All cell phones and all within the same time period of a few months.”

St. Petersburg police said they have received more than 150 reports of stolen phone and wallets this year along.

So detectives started an investigation in January after noticing a drastic increase in the number of phone and credit card thefts in the downtown bar district.

51-year-old Miguel Diaz and 33-year-old Yosniel Mora were arrested over the weekend, stemming from that investigation.

Police said the pair stole phones and wallets from at least two women’s purses.

“Two men, identified as the suspect looking through their purses and was able to take stuff that revealed they were involved in this crime,” Ken Knight said.

Knight said there are some things everyone should do to keep their belongings safe.

“We can’t stop people from being in close environments, but we ask them to be very cautious, pay attention to their surroundings, make sure that their wallets are where they’re supposed to be, that their credit cards and debit cards are secure, and cell phones as well, because all it takes is one bump and your items could be missing,” he said.

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