Police are searching for a man who attacked a passenger on an Ohio bus for his Apple iPhone. The assaulter assailant is still at large, however, the victim managed to hold on to his iPhone! Maybe he was watching UFC right before the attack. Keep your eyes peeled towards the end of the video, there’s a commercial for a company called “Apple Orthodontix” (weird). At least the victim has somewhere to go if he got his teeth knocked out.
Updates – We have been contacted by the victim. The following was said:
“This was me on the bus that was attacked. The video doesn’t show the fact that the Bus Driver was not on the bus, he actually left the bus to talk to another bus driver. He was off the bus for at least 5-7 mins and this allowed more than enough time for this incident to take place. The attacked lasted 2-3 minutes and they left out the part where I actually grab the guy by his balls and twist and pull them. I am upset because if the bus driver had been on the bus, this never would have happened. Also, the lady with the kid is friends with the guy. The original video shows them talking for a long time, and right before he gets up, she takes her kid and picks him up and moves her next to her.
This was more of a hate crime than it was from him trying to steal my iPhone. If he wanted the iPhone it fell from my hands and slid under the seat. My interview was pulled from the local website possibly because I mentioned hate crime.”
Additional thoughts: We won’t pull the video, but it definitely seems like some “hate-crime-motives” could be involved in this attack. The attack may have been spurred from lust for a gadget the assailant may not be able to attain otherwise. But it definitely seems like it evolved into more of a hate crime than an iPhone robbing.
More Updates – Here are some more links given to us by the victim.
Response from COTA the bus company
My interview with the news media
49 Comments to “[video] [updates x2] Bus Passenger Violently Attacked for iPhone.”
Wow, this is insane. And to be totally honest, I can’t believe we didn’t hear reports about this earlier.
People used to get killed for the right set of Nike’s.
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This is outrageous. I am shocked and appalled. Apple Orthadontix is up to 19 locations now!!
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This is absolutely ridiculous !!!! THIS GUY NEEDS TO GO TO JAIL !!! WHY WAS NOBODY HELPING !!! If I was on that bus, I would tackle that little punk to the ground !!!
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No one was helping because 1) there were only two women and a child on the bus 2)it was a black person attacking the only white person on the bus. Im surprised they werent chearing him on.
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Chearing him on ? I don’t get what you’re saying man. Watch the video again, the people in the background are terrified, why would they chear him on?
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At least the bus had decent video.
I think he’ll be ID-ed.
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Whoa! That is some sad commentary on society. All that violence for a piece of electronic gear, sad, sad, sad. Btw, could you change assaulter to assailant in the article, not that I’m trying to be a decider.
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Looks like he did it
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Maybe that guy in the Apple Orthodontics commercial WAS the guy fighting in the video?
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hahahaha…. just a really carefully conceived viral ad campaign? hahaha
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I’m sorry if this is not PC to say, but why am I not surprised it is a black man.
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Wow, US TV is insane! The report summarizes to this: There’s a guy giving into criminal inclinations on video!
This isn’t news. It’s noise. Moreover, it has nothing to do with iphones.
I feel dirty having spent my time to this crap.
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Allison, I’m sorry to say it, but if you had your way only white people would be allow to have iPhones and ride the bus. Why am I not surprised about your lame comment. People steal from each other all over the world and not everyone is black. Try expanding your mind outside the good ole US of A.
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I think it’s kind of ridiculous that this “robbing/beating” even took place. I mean, does the robber even know AT&T’s coverage rates? If he did, I don’t think he’d be robbing that guy.
@Alison: Not to shock you, but your comment is pretty standardized across the nation. It’s not surprising that he’s black, but he’s not the only one who robs people.
@Peter: You’re right man, for sure. But, don’t forget that people definitely have a hard time seeing past America’s racism sometimes, after all… we are the world police !!!
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Peter: Yeah but had this happened 150 years ago, some nice folks would’ve taken him outside and hung him from the nearest tree.
“Try expanding your mind outside the good ole US of A.”
Yeah — lets look at South Africa and how great things have become! Its nice how you can’t even walk down the street now without being raped or robbed. Such great changes they have made!
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This is why we need to bring back cruel an unusual punishment. The guy would never tried to steal the iphone if he knew that he might be subjected to public humiliation(throwing tomatoes at him while shackled to city hall) unusual punishment, (twisting nipples, pulling fingers, slapping face, dunking testicles in boiling oil) torture(ripping out fingernails, gouging eyes, setting skin on fire) What is wrong with this country!!
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So how was this a hate crime? That random black dude just hates whitey so much that the first poor bastard with an iphone is getting a beating?
There’s more to this story. I’m not saying that it couldn’t be random, but a beating like that is usually precipitated by something.
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So how was this a hate crime?
– because if it had been a white man attacking a black man, it would’ve been all over the news as a hate crime with the good ol’ Rev Sharpton crying the assaulter be hanged. Its a double standard that society doesn’t want to admit to.
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that doesn’t make it a hate crime. That makes it assault.
A hate crime is a difficult thing to prove. A black man or a white man attacking someone of a different color doesn’t make something a hate crime.
If that dude has a particular hatred towards white guys and attacks them just for being white, then it’s a hate crime.
If someone attacks me, well shit, sucks to be me. If someone attacks me because I’m gay, that’s a hate crime.
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lol if anyone thinks this is hate crime , you obviously live in pleasant ville, the only reason the beating lasted this long is cause he fought back and to be honest, he could of won he pulled the hoody over his head he had chance, too bad this iphone owner cant fight. he guy reach for iphone missed and proceeded to attack dude till he wasnt moving. and from my angle i think iphone owner was bigger than dude who robbed him. so in all you got mugged , ass whooped and you were clearly bigger than the black guy who robbed you. guess he wanted it more than you
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Would it kill you to make a grammatically correct sentence?
Anyways keith blaming the victim makes little sense to me. By your theory of logic if a person gunned down an innocent bystander it’s the victim’s fault for not wearing body armor, does that really sound fair? This man was assaulted for no reason and if the victim had had a gun and killed the assailant, according to you the assailant would have deserved it for not also carrying a gun, right?
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keiths black, what do you expect?
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hold up im sorry, wait you grabbed his balls, you cant be serious, if anyone has been in fight before i think he was going to get beating longer just off that very female reaction to getting robbed. like why would that not make him stomp you harder. you just assaulted his man hood in the midst of his alpha male robbery. you cant be serious you must be out your rabbit a$$ mind grabbing a dudes balls to save your self. that never works must of watched too many national lampoons grab balls
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I wonder what song he was listening to…
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It was a sermon. I typically prefer to listen to biblical sermons on it.
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People seem to assume that because a black guy attacked a white guy, this can’t be a hate crime. The black guy could have made it look like a robbery and it was really a hate crime in disguise. He probably figured that he would be the center of media attention if he just blatantly attacked the guy without it looking like a robbery. That’s why he didn’t take the iPhone. WTF Keith. What do you mean by “rabbit ass mind”. Sometimes when your caught off guard, that’s all you can do. You really don’t have much time to react. The guy got attacked first and he was sitting down. There wasn’t really much he could do. I’m white and when I was in school it was okay for hispanics or blacks to call me white boy but it wasn’t okay to say things like blacky. Why is that?
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You’re right. It COULD have been a hate crime in disguise, but from the information we have – it was a poorly executed attempt at a robbery.
Keith, say what you want man, but if some guy tries to part me from my iphone I’m going for nuts and neck. Where those 2 things go, the body follows.
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Bottom line.
If some a-hole starts beating on you trying to steal your whatever. You get up and kick the @#$% out of him and don’t stop till the cops come.
You’d be amazed how well this works. Assailants don’t want a battle, the want a surrender. The fact that the guy was black means nothing, it’s a skin color, blood is still red and he bleeds if you hit him hard enough. Fight back, kill the bastard.
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Turn around, kidnap the kid and hold it hostage until the friend gives up the identity the assailant.
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Why wouldn’t anybody else on the bus, or in the video for that matter, at least call teh police or something !!!
I had no intentions of ever visiting Columbus, Ohio… But, now I’ll do what I can to avoid it.
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A crime is a crime. We don’t know what really went on in the assailant’s mind, not until he is caught and interviewed.
It is also unfortunate that it was a black (PC version: African American) man, but perception is reality.
I can also blame the person with the iPhone. I would not flaunt that I have expensive gadgets inside a bus, had I noticed there is someone looking like thugs. I’m going to keep to myself of my definition of what a thug is, but yes, I do stereotype, if that gives you an idea, however, it is not necessarily skin color.
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@ Louis: “I would not flaunt that I have expensive gadgets”
I agree with you. I purchased my mother an iPhone on launch day last year and made sure she knew to hide it when not in use. There is definitely no reason to flaunt your gadgets when you’re in a non-secure place. She traveled overseas a few times and I made sure she understood that this device was not available in the countries she was visiting, yet still highly sought after.
We should be more responsible with our shiny new toys.
Would you take out a stack of $600 on the bus?
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i’m with Keith, if this is a hate crime then i’m suing for having my civil rights violated by the LAPD once a month…..u grab my nuts and twist i might have beat you worse than that, robbery or not….the key is dont fight back just give it up, u never know if your assailant is capable of one of those types of ass whoopins
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Oh, I wish that was me sitting there. If a little n***a ever tried that shit on me, i’d string him up on the nearest tree just in time for the police to come by and close the case. It’s s**t like this that gives black people a bad name. Why the f**k would someone want to intentionally hurt someone else who was minding their own business? I swear, people like that need to be strung up.
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Easy way to crack this case….. compare his image to year books of all schools local to this bus stop.
Then you can find Rasheed or Jaleeel or whatever section 8 name he has.. and put his ass in jail where he belongs… alas.. you still lose however as you will pay for his incarceration…
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@lt.dan: I am the author of this post and have been doing everything within my power to help catch the assailant and help out the victim. My name is Aviv, does my “section 8″ name make me a second class citizen?
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yes, this is indeed a hate crime.., “why those white mofos can have an iPhone in hand and enjoy himself without noticing the other two blacks do not have. This is so unfair… after all those years we blacks had been enslaved by those damned whites, now they still got the iPhone and we do not. All the damned whites in US owe an iPhone to each and every black man and woman. The whole mofo country owes us!!!”
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That’s the exact fucking pathetic mentality that breeds heavy racism.
We owe you? The whole country owes you? Owes you what? An iPhone?
You think an iPhone will help solve the deep-rooted issues that African Americans have against racism and oppression?
I think the fact that you would take an iPhone as payment/reconciliation for your ancestors’ oppression is pathetic.
Pure example of why the robbery took place.
Hate Crimes are bred from racism, which is bred from generations of un-educated families (of all colors) NOT teaching their kids what REALLY matters in this world.
Let’s hope for the sake of the next generation, you teach your kids not to hold feelings of oppression inside until they generate anger and hate. Let’s hope that you teach them to acknowledge the un-changeable history, and not hate others because it happened.
After all, can you really blame this victim for getting robbed? Don’t forget, it’s not his fault, if he had it his way, we wouldn’t even be writing in this post right now because this never would have happened.
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You want an iPhone so bad put down your crack pipe, fried chicken, and malt liquor and go get ya a damn job. I don’t owe you shit darkie
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This goes great with my plans to move to Columbus in 2 months, ditch my car for the bus, and buy an iphone.
Damn.
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@WDT – HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH !!!!!!!! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL !!!!!!! ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS !!!!!!
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I am a black guy and yes it does sounds a HATE CRIME. Shame on this idiot black guy.
I agreed with Jay. Nobody cried out for this white guy. That is not fair. If white guy beat up a black guy, you see many headlines! WHY? That is not Fair!
If I see this black guy, I would call this white guy to join me and beat up this idiot black guy before I call Police. if police officer asks me why he is beat up by us, I’d say he tried to steal my gum inside my mouth, Idiot!
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Ummmmmmm. What ?
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Just another criminal minded Nig. Not surprised at all. How about putting the one pant leg down, getting rid of your gat in your waistband, and stop selling crack on the street corners and robbing people. Get a job!!!!!!!!!
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You are a complete idiot Crow.
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WOW!listen to this.
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is anyone out there….
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@reflection: Is anyone out where?
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Listen to what exactly? I’m all ears reflection.
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