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Thief On Motor Scooter Targets Students' Cell Phones In Boston

BOSTON (CBS) – College campuses are a target-rich environment; students on the move – talking, texting and web surfing on their phones.

Students at several schools have had their phones snatched right out of their hands mid-sentence, by a guy riding a motor scooter. The suspect was captured by a Boston University surveillance camera.

Video shows the scooter suspect making his getaway across the Green Line tracks and up St. Mary's Street, after approaching his victim from behind -- on the sidewalk -- and grabbing the iPhone.

WBZ-TV's Ken MacLeod reports

The BU police chief is urging students to conceal their phones while out-and-about, but the vast majority won't be changing their chit-chatty ways.

Given that, BU police urge students to at least stay alert and refrain from chasing the scooter suspect when he grabs his next phone.

Police say this is because they don't even have a decent description of the guy, much less an idea of what he might do if confronted.

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