Apple Valley Man Steals Friend's iPhone After Threatening to Punch Him

An Apple Valley man has been charged with felony robbery after police say he asked to see a friend’s iPhone last weekend, then fled with the phone after threatening to punch his friend in the face if he tried to take it back.

Mohamud Mohamed Omar, 18, faces a felony charge of simple robbery, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

Omar is free on bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled for Oct. 17 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.

According to the criminal complaint, were called to a restaurant on Sept. 17, where a man told them that Omar had just taken his $600 iPhone from him by force.

The man said Omar had met him after his shift ended at the restaurant where he worked. After talking for awhile, Omar asked the man for his iPhone because he said he wanted to program his number into it, the complaint says.

The man then realized that Omar wasn’t entering his number into the phone, and asked him to give it back.

Omar stood up and told the man to stay seated, telling him that if he stood up, he would be “punched in the face,” the complaint says. Omar then ran away, and the man later told police what Omar looked like and in which direction he had run.

When police caught up with Omar at his home, he allegedly told police that the man had voluntarily given Omar his phone. He took police to his bedroom and pulled the phone out from beneath his pillow.

Omar told police that he had given the man an iPod several months earlier, and that it was then stolen. Omar said he thought the man had lied to him about the iPod being stolen, and continued to tell police that the victim had told him to keep his iPhone until he located the missing iPod.