Con Man Thief Bites Starbucks Customer in the Face, Police Say

A teenager pretending to gather signatures for a petition was arrested for swiping a passport and wallet from an East Village Starbucks customer — and then biting the victim in the face when confronted, police said.

Jamel Chandler, 18, approached a man in the Astor Place Starbucks at about 7 p.m. on Nov. 29 and asked him to sign a petition, according to police and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. Chandler then placed a clipboard over the victim’s wallet, which contained a passport, credit cards and cash, to distract the victim and grab the wallet, police said.

When another customer spotted the theft and alerted the victim, the man confronted Chandler outside the store, where a scuffle between the two ended with Chandler biting the victim in the face, drawing blood, police said.

Chandler fled with the victim’s wallet, but left behind two iPhones, a hat and a shoe, according to the DA’s office.

By the time police arrested Chandler on Dec. 9, he had conned nine other people, police said.

Read more from this story HERE.