Laptop thefts run rampant at cafes

The Oakland Tribune reports:

On July 13, Raul Saucedo was sitting at an outside table at Hudson Bay Cafe on College Avenue browsing online when a man suddenly grabbed his laptop and ran down the street.

Saucedo ran after the thief yelling "get him" and "he stole my laptop." He caught up with the thief and grabbed his arms, but the man threw the laptop at Saucedo, hitting him in the chest and shoulders. The computer fell to the ground and broke as the thief ran to a getaway car.

"I was hoping someone would stop him," said Saucedo, a graduate student at Cornell University in New York who is on a fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, for a year. Police were called and a report was filed, but no onehas been caught.

Oakland police spokesman Roland Holmgren said police do not approve of chasing robbers. "Value your own health over the value of a laptop," he advises.

More and more these days, laptops are being snatched literally from under the noses of distracted owners typing at wireless cafes.

A word to the wise.