PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — A casual night out with friends in Center City ended with a phone and credit cards being stolen and thousands of dollars in fraudulent charges.
Within five minutes of meeting friends at Garage Rittenhouse on the 1500 block of Spruce Street, the victim, who did not want to be identified, said her phone and credit cards were taken from her purse.
“I had my purse, my zipper was closed. I didn’t even feel it, which is also really scary,” she said.
Over $8,000 worth of items were charged to one of her cards, the victim said.
“Definitely a little anxious, I’m still worried about the process getting my cards closed and those charges taken off of my card,” she said.
Philadelphia police said two incidents have been reported at Garage Rittenhouse within the last month — one last Friday and a similar incident in January.
According to a post in a Philadelphia Facebook group, the victim said thefts have also been reported at several other bars in the neighborhood.
The victim said her boyfriend tried to alert bar staff after realizing their belongings were missing.
The couple attempted to track the phone using “Find My Friends,” which showed it was down the street, but nothing was recovered. The victim said she went home to immediately start working on closing her cards.
“Which is the scary part, I didn’t feel anybody touch me. There’s so many people around, I think being in a bigger group made me more susceptible to it,” she said.
The victim said more than $8,000 in charges were made on her card at Target, Walmart and T-Mobile in Philadelphia, which she is now trying to resolve.
Action News has not heard back from Garage Rittenhouse for comment.
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