HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016 01-28 Suspect’s mom returns phone allegedly snatched from 9-year-old PIONEER PRESS 2/1/2016 Suspect's mom returns phone allegedly snatched from 9-year-old—Twin Cities
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2/1/2016 Suspect's mom returns phone allegedly snatched from 9-year-old—Twin Cities
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2/1/2016 Suspect's mom returns phone allegedly snatched from 9-year-old—Twin Cities
By MAIM VIII,(3(")""Ir"T1IFIV'R.IIIII ,III:°) I mgottfried @pioneerpress.com
January 28,2016 1 UPDATED:4 days ago
Days after a man stole a cellphone out of a 9-year-old girl's hand in
St. Paul, a woman delivered the phone to the girl's home, along with
an admission: Her son was the one who'd stolen it.
Police identified the suspect as a 19-year-old, who was charged
Wednesday with felony theft.
On Thursday, police thanked the public for their tips in the case. The
phone was stolen Jan. 5, and police posted a surveillance photo on
Facebook of the suspect the next day. IPolice, who called the theft
"absollutelly despicable," had asked anyone with information to come
forward.
"We heard from numerous people who helped put the case
together," said Sgt. Mike Ernster, a St. Paul police spokesman.
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2/1/2016 Suspect's mom returns phone allegedly snatched from 9-year-old—Twin Cities
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The criminal complaint charging Dejuan Quashon Montgomery gives
the following account:
On Jan. 5 about 3:20 p.m., a 9-year-old girl was standing at Edmund
Avenue and Grotto Street, waiting to pick up her younger sister from
the school bus. The girl was speaking with her father on an LG
cellphone she got for Christmas.
A man walked past and returned a short time later. He grabbed the
phone from the girl's hand, said, "Ha. I got your phone!" and ran
away, the complaint said.
On Jan. 8, the victim's mother contacted police and said a woman
she didn't know had stopped by her home and returned the stolen
phone, whose cover had been broken. The complaint doesn't
explain how the woman knew where the victim lived.
The woman told the girl's mother that her son "DJ" had stolen the
phone, that DJ is on probation and he has mental-health issues.
Police had surveillance videos from a nearby convenience store and
bar, and later got information that the suspect pictured was possibly
Montgomery. The investigator contacted Montgomery's probation
officer and arranged to meet Montgomery at the Maplewood group
home where he lived.
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2/1/2016 Suspect's mom returns phone allegedly snatched from 9-year-old—Twin Cities
Montgomery told the sergeant he knew why he wanted to talk to him.
Montgomery said he'd taken the phone "and later tried to give it back
but she wasn't there," the complaint said. He said his mother
returned the phone after they saw the case on the news.
Montgomery is summoned to court Feb. 24. The group home said he
is no longer living there; he could not be reached for comment
Thursday.
Montgomery was sentenced to prison in 2013 for possession of a
firearm by an ineligible person. He's been on supervised release
since November.
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