Man Arrested after Punching Woman, Stealing Her Phone During Robbery

A man was arrested after allegedly punching a woman and stealing her phone in Richmond early Monday morning, a police spokeswoman said.

The woman was walking home in the 6100 block of Panama Avenue around 2:20 a.m. when a man and woman approached and the man struck her, Richmond police Sgt. Nicole Abetkov said. The pair fled and the victim, who suffered undisclosed injuries, called police.

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Officers responding to a report of a break-in at a home elsewhere in Richmond a short time later encountered a man and woman matching the suspect description in the strong-arm robbery and detained them, Abetkov said. The victim was called and identified the man as the one who punched her, the spokeswoman said.

The suspect, a 34-year-old Richmond resident police are not identifying, was arrested and taken to county jail in Martinez. The woman with him at the time of the robbery was released.

—By Bay City News