Disabled Lynn man asks for help to find alleged stolen phone

LYNN – He acknowledged that cellphones get stolen all the time. But a disabled city man is hoping “karma” return his “lifeline” to his doctors.”Drop it off, mail it … you can return it, no questions asked,” Western Avenue resident Paul Thompson said Tuesday. “It’s just I have 15 doctors in there, and I’m sick enough as it is.”Thompson, 59, and his wife, Diane, said they were sitting on the stoop of their Western Avenue apartment building at around 5 p.m. Sept. 20 when a local youth came up and began chatting. At one point, the youth asked them the time and touched Thompson’s iPhone 4S, which was in a case on the stoop, the couple said. The youth left, and, about 10 minutes later, Thompson said he went to check his phone and the case was empty.He described the suspect as a Middle Eastern man in his late teens or early twenties with curly black hair, a thin build and measuring about 5 feet 6 inches. He said the man is “without doubt a freaking thief.””He comes around and every time on a different bike and wants to know if you want to buy it,” Thompson said.Thompson said he and his wife called police, who came immediately and filed a report. Apple cancelled the service. Unfortunately, because his wife’s phone was synchronized with his, Thompson said they both lost numbers for doctors, including his primary-care physician, heart surgeon, cardiologist, cancer surgeon and psychiatrists.(Thompson said suffered spinal, neck and brain injuries after falling off a ladder 12 years ago.)”It’s like his lifeline,” Diane Thompson explained. “He even has Netflix in there. It’s his whole life.”Lynn Police Lt. Rick Donnelly said police are investigating the incident. He cautioned, however, that in circumstances where nobody witnessed a person take an item and/or the item wasn’t immediately missed, it’s hard to say for certain that a theft occurred. Many phones that are reported stolen later turn out to be simply misplaced, he said.Paul Thompson insisted the phone was stolen and just doesn’t understand why.”If it’s shut off and locked with a password, I don’t know how they would get anything out of it,” Thompson said. “It’s just not right.”If you can help the Thompsons, please contact Lynn Police at 781-595-2000.