Man's Cell Phone Held for Ransom

PHILADELPHIA, PA -- If losing your cell phone isn't bad enough, imagine being blackmailed out of hundreds of dollars just to get it back.

It recently happened to a Philadelphia man, but his story had a happy ending.

"I was outraged," Jeff Beuerle said.

A cell phone he had lost minutes earlier was already being held for ransom.

Beuerle said he thought he was doing a good deed on Monday when he stopped to pick up a basketball for some kids after it had bounced onto Torresdale Avenue from a schoolyard in Mayfair.

He realized shortly after that he'd lost his cell phone there, and when he called it, the person who answered wanted a lot of money to give it back.

"I says, 'You got to be kidding me.' To make a long story short, they got as high as $400 they wanted for my cell phone," he said.

That's when Beuerle enlisted the help of 15th District community police Officer Sharon Krause, who was working the neighborhood.

She told him what to do.

Beuerle arranged to meet his phone blackmailers at a nearby parking lot.

The phone's holder was a no-show, and Beuerle figured his phone was gone forever, but Krause was not ready to give up.

"At that point, I dialed the number again, just one last chance, figured I try again for him," Krause said.

Someone answered and gave a new meeting place, which was Al's Deli, right across the street from where Beuerle lost his phone.

"I saw the phone in his hand, told him, 'Listen, give me the phone.' He did. He handed the phone over," Krause said.

Beuerle, who has a small hardwood floor refinishing business, said all of his contact numbers were in the phone.

"This is my lifeline to my business, and without this my business is basically closed down," he said.

"She stuck with it, and she got my phone back. It's a little thing that a cop on a beat does that makes the city better, and I want her to get recognized for it."

Krause said she was just doing her job, adding that she just feels "police officers do these types of things all the time."

"That's why we are there, to help the public," the officer said.

"I'm just glad he got his phone back."

Police are investigating what happened, and the suspect could face extortion charges.