A 28-year-old man was assaulted and robbed of his phone, cash and his engraved wedding ring while walking near 48th and Hazel at about 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday.
Police say three young males in dark hoodies approached the man to ask the time. One of the males then brandished a black handgun and struck the victim, knocking him to the ground. The suspects, described as black males between 17 and 20 years old, took the victim’s phone, a wallet with $4 and various cards, a gym bag with headphones and sneakers, and his platinum wedding ring with the inscription “like madness” on it. They fled on foot westbound on Hazel Avenue toward 49th Street, according to police.
The victim was treated for lacerations at Presbyterian Hospital and released.
February 24th, 2016 at 3:08 pm
did they really need to take the wedding band?!?
February 24th, 2016 at 6:15 pm
First of all I doubt these thugs even know what a wedding band is, to them it’s just bling. Secondly, I was once a victim of a mugging and they got my phone and wallet which was easily replaced with minor inconvenience. I was angry at the time but soon took satisfaction and solace in knowing that I am a have, basking in privilege, and they are still have nots, who are probably either dead or locked up and destined to a short miserable worthless life. So whatever, take our phones, we can afford new ones and you can’t.
February 25th, 2016 at 12:43 pm
@Sivart
I’m amazed that you are defending the criminals that robbed an innocent victim. These pieces of garbage robbed an innocent person at gunpoint for $4, a phone and his wedding ring and you’re defending the criminals ? This isnt about whether or not the victim can afford to buy a new phone. This is about a group of thugs robbing people.
Basking in privilege ? So that means that it’s ok to rob white people because they might be able to afford a new phone ? It’s ok to rob someone of their wedding band because these thugs probably didn’t know what a wedding band was ?
[deleted]
February 25th, 2016 at 3:13 pm
I am engaging in a dialogue.
February 25th, 2016 at 10:33 pm
Sivart, no idea who did this crime, no idea who you are, no idea who the victim is.
Some thoughts:
The newer residents of this neighborhood seem to be mostly white, mostly educated and mostly liberal. You may or may not fit into this group, but you strike me as someone who might subscribe to the new religion of the left, which is the religion called “Lack of Awareness of White Privilege is the Problem” thinking.
Part of this religion is to “work out” their privilege by living in communities that are diverse in terms of color and income, and raising questions like, “How much did that phone really mean to me, anyway?”.
This provision of excessive space for the practice of the religion of Awareness Above All does harm to property values and to the dignity of all of the hardworking folks who have been dealt a bad hand in life, and somehow still do NOT commit crimes.
If you studied something with the word “Studies” in college, and you feel a need to provide space for criminals, and existential questions, please don’t do it here. It doesn’t help victims, it certainly doesn’t help the poor, mostly-black, mostly-male people in the neighborhood who are committing crimes after being given very little opportunity.
If you suffer from White Privilege, some ideas that go beyond the religion of Awareness of White Privilege:
– help with local literacy initiatives
– get involved in local politics and advocate for resources for kids
– support community-building organizations
Would love your thoughts.
February 26th, 2016 at 11:44 am
Hi, I am the victim from this news report. There is a follow-up; when the hospital looked at my scans again, they realized there was some bleeding near the brain and I had to check back in and spend a couple days getting tests and being under observation.
As and when my pain escalated, I felt severe irritation against these guys, and wanted them off the streets, just because of the unnecessary force they used against me. They could’ve asked me, and I’d have happily handed over my phone and wallet once they pointed the gun at me.
But beyond the moments of weakness induced by pain, all I felt was how much of a waste the whole thing was, because they didn’t get all that much from the robbery, and my family suffered needlessly. And I contemplated the degree of desperation required to use this much violence just to make a few bucks. It is really sad. Hope things get better so folks don’t have to use these desperate measures, and other folks don’t have to suffer as a result of them.
February 26th, 2016 at 12:07 pm
Bouncy – my condolences. What a shame. Sending you the best.
February 26th, 2016 at 2:08 pm
@Osage Resident: I think you’re mis-understanding @sivart. My impression from the comment is that he or she is actually just as racist as you are. Same team, no need to argue!
February 26th, 2016 at 2:13 pm
We had to delete a few comments in this thread due to their offensive nature. Please read our comment policy before posting your comment: https://www.westphillylocal.com/comment-policy/
February 27th, 2016 at 9:37 am
@anon thank you! I’m disappointed I didn’t get to read the comments that were deleted:( I can only imagine lmfao! Happy trolling lmaoooooooooo
February 28th, 2016 at 10:29 pm
The discussion of white privilege in relationship to crimal attacks is plainly ridiculous. I work in a tough area and see some teens doing the right thing while others are influenced by others in the hood to think that toughness and guns are the way to go, even when other options are stairing them in the face. Excusing it is not the way to solve this problem.
March 1st, 2016 at 10:25 am
@Susan: the person who brought up privilege (@Sivart) wasn’t seriously trying to have a discussion of white privilege. He or she:
1. Refers to young black men as thugs (which is about the most tired dog whistle expression there is);
2. Believes that young black men don’t know what a wedding band is, just that it’s a form of “bling” (again, the racial implications are both obvious and tired);
3. Was making the point that after being robbed, s/he took solace in the belief that the young men who robbed him would soon be “dead or locked up and destined to a short worthless miserable life”
4. Is ecstatic about people like the young men who robbed him being unable to afford to buy a phone, which is something he can do easily (and seems to make him feel superior for some reason).
No one is seriously trying to turn this into a discussion of white privilege. A racist idiot just used the expression “privilege” in a racist rant.
March 1st, 2016 at 12:46 pm
Bouncy,
Thank you for posting as I have been thinking of you and your family ever since the incident. I have wanted you to know that hoping that it might provide some solace.
I also have become really scared after your incident especially because I have to park a block away from my house if I come home from an evening meeting. I have lived in this neighborhood since the early 70’s and this is my home.
March 3rd, 2016 at 2:32 pm
@hello…. Yes you are correct, I am ecstatic about #4 and do think I am superior in all the ways that matter to “young men” who have to resort to stealing from someone else in order to provide anything for themselves. How couldn’t you feel superior to that? Maybe one day if the world goes apocalyptic like walking dead, and education and skills are no longer important and superiority is measured by how violent you can be and how fast you can run those “young men” will have their day to be superior.
March 3rd, 2016 at 3:18 pm
@Sivart: Instead of imagining the future as a post-apocalyptic hellscape, perhaps you could try imagining a future where the circumstances of one’s birth (economic, racial, familial, etc.) aren’t largely determinative of one’s opportunities to succeed in life?
How many of the following characteristics do you imagine are true of the young men (not sure why you went for scare quotes around that, perhaps they’re not human to you?) who rob people for phones:
1. Born poor;
2. Grow up surrounded by other poor people;
3. Born black in a racist society;
4. Went to an under-performing public school;
5. Has family/friends/neighbors in jail;
6. Has family/friends/neighbors who have been injured/killed by criminal violence;
7. Was raised in a single-parent household, probably by a single mother;
The list could go on and on and the point isn’t to excuse individual instances of criminal behavior, as I’m sure it will be suggested that I’m doing. The point is that while a segment of the population is born into conditions that severely limit the opportunities they have to succeed, there is going to be crime like this.
So, rather than relishing the incredibly sad circumstances that someone else was born into, and your own “superiority” that flows simply by you not having been born into those circumstances, the goal of a moral society should be to eliminate the conditions that all-but rob young people of a legitimate chance to live a productive, successful life.
March 3rd, 2016 at 3:52 pm
This is complex as it involves several levels of concern, some more immediate than others. There is and should be little argument that the above conditions exist; they are a component of capitalism and will not change till it is replaced with a socioeconomic system which serves people and not corporations.
However it is also racist, and insulting to Black people, to argue that because Black people are oppressed they lack the capacity to understand that it is wrong engage in violent behavior against random people on the street. Or that defending oneself and being prepared to defend oneself against predators of any persuasion is inappropriate.
March 3rd, 2016 at 5:20 pm
@Zebra: I never argued that “because black people are oppressed they lack the capacity to understand that it is wrong to engage in violent behavior …” and in fact said that I was not trying to excuse individual criminal acts.
I argued that as long as a segment of the population is born into conditions that severely limit their legitimate opportunities to succeed, there is going to be crime like this and that the goal of a moral society should be to eliminate such conditions to the greatest extent possible, not to wallow in one’s own perceived feeling of superiority for not having been born into such conditions
March 3rd, 2016 at 7:24 pm
Nothing to disagree with there. Neither is it productive to wallow in one’s sense of guilt over having whatever privilege or deny it, rather than using it to further “progressive” goals. (Though that word progressive has been abused so much that it’s probably effectively meaningless at this point.)