Novato police officers quickly identified and tracked down the man who stole a woman’s cell phone by force on Friday morning, as detailed in a press release issued later that afternoon by Sergeant Nick Frey of the Novato Police Department.
The victim, a 23-year-old resident of Novato, had been visiting the Novato Fair shopping center at 900 Diablo Avenue in Novato. She walked out of an unnamed retail store at the center in the midmorning while holding her cell phone. A man she did not know walked up to her, grabbed the phone right out of her hands, and ran from the scene on foot.
The NPD received the call at 10:29 a.m. Officer Wacholz and Officer Sedeno dispatched to the shopping center and interviewed the victim. The investigating officers identified Bernard Davis, 23, of Novato as the suspect. Frey said that NPD was unable to share how officers identified Davis until the District Attorney reviews the case.
Officers located Davis in short order, and found evidence on him that connected back to the theft. The officers arrested Davis and booked him into Marin County Jail on charges of robbery and possession of stolen property.
Frey explained that Davis has run into some trouble with the NPD before: “I can tell you that we as an agency are familiar with Davis, but not in the aspect of implementing robberies” of this type, he said. Records show that just this year, Davis had been arrested five times, all on charges of possession drug paraphernalia and/or being under the influence of a controlled substance.
Frey advised those who own valuable cell phones to “be cognizant of your surroundings, and place tracking devices on your cell phone,” in order to avoid such thefts.
