HELL'S KITCHEN — A teen punched a local resident in the face and stole her cellphone before returning the device when his accomplice got caught, police said.
The 34-year-old resident of West 47th Street was walking down West 48th Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues around 9:50 p.m. on March 9 when two teenage boys walked up behind her, the NYPD said.
As they got close, one of the teens punched her in the face and grabbed her iPhone, police said.
A person who witnessed the robbery caught the second teen before he ran off, at which point the boy who punched the woman came back and returned the phone, the victim told police.
The witness wasn’t able to keep the teens there and they fled, police said.
A video camera at the scene of the robbery captured the incident, the NYPD said.
