RANDALL’S ISLAND — Attendees at the Governors Ball music festival were ripped off of $13,564 in property — primarily expensive cameras and cellphones — by sticky-fingered fellow concertgoers, police said.
The festival, which was held from June 2 to June 4, was a hotbed for pickpockets, according to 10 police reports filed in Manhattan’s 25th Precinct, which covers the area.
A 23-year-old man told police that he was walking through a crowd of people wearing a backpack on June 2 around 10 p.m. and later found that it had been unzipped and looted of a Canon camera and two camera lenses totaling $7,454, police said.
In several other police reports, unsuspecting victims reported having their cellphones swiped from their pockets, purses and backpacks. The cellphone thefts totaled roughly $6,050, police said.
In one incident, a 19-year-old woman told police when she reached for her handbag to get her iPhone on June 2 around 9:45 p.m., only to notice it was unzipped and her phone missing. In another report, a 20-year-old woman told police a suspect reached into her front pocket on June 3 around 8:20 p.m., removed her iPhone and fled the scene.
A 17-year-old man told police that he went to use the bathroom during the concert and accidentally left his backpack inside. When he returned he saw that his wallet was gone, along with $60 in cash and his credit cards.
In the past, there have been several incidents of thieves targeting festival-goers on Randall's Island. More than $6,000 in property was stolen from attendees during last year's Electric Zoo Festival.
A representative for Governors Ball did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
