Rosemount Man Charged with Stealing Cell Phone from Reluctant Victim

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A Rosemount man has been charged with stealing a cell phone from a customer at an Apple Valley restaurant—a customer who turned out to be unwilling to give up without a fight.

Devon Deshawn Gordon, 18, is charged with felony theft from person, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. 

Apple Valley police were called to a McDonald’s restaurant Nov. 7 to investigate a report of a robbery, according to the criminal complaint.

Police met with the victim, who said he was studying at the restaurant when Gordon approached him and asked if he could borrow his cell phone. The victim said he reluctantly agreed, but told Gordon that he needed to stay close to where he was sitting while he used it.

Gordon took the phone and began walking toward the door, the victim said. Gordon looked back and said, “Thanks for the phone!” before fleeing and running east on County Road 42, the complaint says.

The victim chased Gordon, caught up to him on the median on County Road 42 and tried to convince him to return the phone, but Gordon refused. At one point, the complaint says, Gordon told the victim that he was a “wrestler and a boxer” and that the victim shouldn’t “mess with him.”

When Gordon tried to put the phone in his pocket, the victim swatted his hand away, and Gordon punched the victim, according to the complaint. Gordon tried to hit the victim four or five times, but the victim blocked his blows, grabbed him around his shoulders and forced him down into mulch on the ground.

The victim wrested his phone away from Gordon and ran back into McDonald’s to call 911. Gordon fled the area, but police located him a short distance away, wearing a different shirt than the one that the victim described.

The victim identified Gordon as the man who had stolen his phone. Gordon told police that he had been at McDonald’s and asked to use the victim’s phone; he said he used it, then went outside. Gordon said the victim thought he was trying to steal the phone and assaulted him.

Gordon remains in the Dakota County Jail on a $1,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled Feb. 5 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.