A thug who ripped off a man’s finger during a brazen daylight iPad heist is in police custody.
Brandon D. Smith, 20, was arrested during a routine traffic stop early Saturday. Police say Smith was one of two men who stalked the victim, 59-year-old Bill Jordan, after he purchased a $500 iPad from the Apple store at the Cherry Creek mall in Denver, Colorado on April 15th.
Mall surveillance video shows the two thieves following Jordan as he walked down a flight of stairs holding a white plastic bag with its knotted cord wrapped around his fingers. Jordan said he wound the bag’s cord around his fingers as a precaution so he wouldn’t drop the pricey machine.
The video shows Jordan leaving the mall through an exit to a parking deck when Smith quickly walks up behind him, snatches the bag and runs off. As Smith yanked the bag, the cord tightened on Jordan’s pinky finger ripping the tip of his finger off along with the tendons, ligaments and muscle, leaving only the exposed bone.
A surgeon later amputated part of Jordan’s pinky finger. Smith is being held in the Denver County jail on charges of robbery and second-degree assault.
Thanks to tips called in from the public, Denver police already knew who they were looking for when they rolled up on Smith’s car at 1:14 am Saturday. His mother must be so proud of him.
