2008 Woodie Awards
Student asks for SIM card back during armed robbery
Giovanni Russonello - U-WIRE
Issue date: 10/8/07 Section: News
MEDFORD, Mass. - When a Tufts junior was held up at gunpoint early Friday morning, he lost his cell phone and his laptop. But he still had the wherewithal to ask for his phone's SIM card back.
"I don't know why - they have a gun pointed to me - [but] I'm like, 'Oh, I don't want to start one of these Facebook groups,'" said the victim Jason Safer.
He was referring to forums that people make on Facebook.com after losing their cell phones in order to recollect their friends' numbers.
"So I'm like, 'Wait, wait, just give me my SIM card, please let me have my SIM card," Safer said. "And the guys are like, 'Okay, give him his SIM card, take out your SIM card.'"
A SIM card, or Subscriber Identity Module, is a small, removable device inside a cell phone that stores data such as other people's phone numbers.
The two men approached him at about 1 a.m. "[They] pretty much [came] out of nowhere," he said. "They just [came] right up to me and they ... said, 'Gimme your laptop.' I just kind of stood there kind of surprised. One took a gun out and pointed it right to my chest. So at that point I handed them the laptop."
Next, the men asked Safer for his cell phone, which he gave to them. It was at this point that he thought to ask for his SIM card back, leading to a fairly unusual exchange.
"So they give me my phone," Safer said. "I'm, like, scrambling ... trying to get it out, and I can't get it out. So the guy grabs it from me and he tries to get it out. Then I don't know why I did this but for some reason I grabbed it back from him."
After Safer had retrieved his SIM card and returned the phone to the robbers, they demanded that he give them money. In another unusual decision, Safer lied to them, telling them that he didn't have his wallet.
"[It] was just quick thinking, because I knew they were in a rush, so I didn't think they were going to check," he said. "So I acted more panicked than I was, and I said, 'I don't have any money. I just have my ID and that's it.' But I had my wallet right in my pocket with you know my credit card, my license, everything."
"I don't know why - they have a gun pointed to me - [but] I'm like, 'Oh, I don't want to start one of these Facebook groups,'" said the victim Jason Safer.
He was referring to forums that people make on Facebook.com after losing their cell phones in order to recollect their friends' numbers.
"So I'm like, 'Wait, wait, just give me my SIM card, please let me have my SIM card," Safer said. "And the guys are like, 'Okay, give him his SIM card, take out your SIM card.'"
A SIM card, or Subscriber Identity Module, is a small, removable device inside a cell phone that stores data such as other people's phone numbers.
The two men approached him at about 1 a.m. "[They] pretty much [came] out of nowhere," he said. "They just [came] right up to me and they ... said, 'Gimme your laptop.' I just kind of stood there kind of surprised. One took a gun out and pointed it right to my chest. So at that point I handed them the laptop."
Next, the men asked Safer for his cell phone, which he gave to them. It was at this point that he thought to ask for his SIM card back, leading to a fairly unusual exchange.
"So they give me my phone," Safer said. "I'm, like, scrambling ... trying to get it out, and I can't get it out. So the guy grabs it from me and he tries to get it out. Then I don't know why I did this but for some reason I grabbed it back from him."
After Safer had retrieved his SIM card and returned the phone to the robbers, they demanded that he give them money. In another unusual decision, Safer lied to them, telling them that he didn't have his wallet.
"[It] was just quick thinking, because I knew they were in a rush, so I didn't think they were going to check," he said. "So I acted more panicked than I was, and I said, 'I don't have any money. I just have my ID and that's it.' But I had my wallet right in my pocket with you know my credit card, my license, everything."
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