Teenage Phone Thief Caught Stealing iPhone From Undercover Cop: Police

JOLIET, IL — A teenage thief was arrested after he snatched away an iPhone from an undercover cop who tricked him into thinking she would be his next victim, police said.

The Will County Sheriff’s Department set up the sting to catch 18-year-old D’Amonta Barber after three people came forward and told of losing their cell phones to a young man who had agreed to buy them, police said. All three set up a deal to sell their phones using the app letgo, police said, and all three agreed to meet at the same spot on East Washington Street in Joliet.

An investigator made contact with Barber through the app and set up a meeting to sell him a phone on March 16, police said. Barber allegedly showed up with a 16-year-old sidekick.

Barber grabbed the phone away from the undercover cop and he and the younger teen made a run for it, police said, but were chased down by deputies.

Barber and the other teen had been selling cell phones they had stolen to students at Joliet Central High School, police said, getting about $50 apiece for them.

Deputies searched the car the two teens drove to the meeting and found marijuana, police said.

Barber was booked into the Will County jail but was released the next day on $2,500 bond. The 16-year-old was taken to River Valley Juvenile Detention Center.

D’Amonta Barber | image via Will County Sheriff's Department