The son of a retired subway police chief passed out after thieves took his phone. Jack Nadeau’s jaw was broken and his accounts were exhausted.
MINNEAPOLIS — A Facebook post by retired Maplewood Police Chief Scott Nadeau draws attention to what police say is an ongoing problem in downtown Minneapolis: cell phone thefts that drive the depletion of accounts and sometimes lead to violence.
An assault, captured on surveillance video around 2:15 a.m. Saturday in downtown Minneapolis, begins with a man who police say is the victim of a stolen cellphone confronting a group of people and trying to retrieve it . It ends with a punch and the victim is knocked out on the pavement.
Nadeau said the victim is his 24-year-old son, Jack. He is now at home, recovering from a broken jaw and bleeding in the brain.
Nadeau said that after her son’s phone was unlocked, the thieves stole money from his payment accounts, such as Venmo and CashApp.
“I wish the best for his recovery,” said Steve Cramer, president and CEO of the Minneapolis Downtown Council.
On Wednesday, the Hennepin County District Attorney’s Office charged 18-year-old Kevron Detrell Williams Gray with first-degree assault and aggravated robbery in connection with the attack on Jack Nadeau. The criminal complaint says Williams Gray picked up the Nadeaus’ phone under the guise of adding their rap group’s Instagram. A witness claims the defendant refused to hand him over, and surveillance video shows a companion of Williams Gray pushing Nadeau and then punching him, with the victim falling unconscious on the sidewalk.
During an interview, Jack Nadeau told detectives that the person who stole his phone had accumulated 20 fraudulent transactions worth more than $1,700. One involved a pair of Nike shoes that were shipped to the defendant’s address as “Kevin Williams”.
Investigators say they later determined Williams Gray was involved in similar activity in the same area the same night Nadeau was assaulted. When the accused was arrested he had four mobile phones on him, including one belonging to a man who police say was also stolen and assaulted.
Prosecutors say the cases mentioned in the criminal complaint are “part of a larger pattern of criminal activity involving assault, robbery, robbery, financial transaction card fraud and identity theft occurring regularly in downtown Minneapolis.” The activity is part of an ongoing investigation by Minneapolis police and other law enforcement agencies.
A search warrant reveals another victim awoke under a bridge in June with injuries, his phone missing and his CashApp account drained.
With the number of people using their cellphones without being fully aware of their surroundings, Cramer calls it organized crime of opportunity.
“We have a huge network of cameras and a lot of evidence is being collected. And if they’re not resolved immediately, there’s a lot of opportunity to come back and find out who the perpetrators are,” Cramer said.
The Downtown Minneapolis Council is currently conducting a cell phone theft awareness campaign.
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