Cellphone swiper still outstanding after 1 arrest in Barberian mugging
Posted December 24, 2014 6:45 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Police have arrested a man in connection with a dramatic mugging captured on camera earlier this week.
Aaron Barberian, the owner of Barberian’s Steakhouse on Elm Street, says he was walking towards his nearby sandwich shop with a register tray full of cash when a man suddenly approached him.
“I was bringing the till over … and as I walked down the street and was turning into the front door a gentleman tried to mug me and he got what was coming. I fought back a little bit.”
The scuffle, which was caught on surveillance video, shows Barberian tossing the hapless crook around with ease, swinging him around by his sweater and taking him to the ground.
Joel Brown, 44, was arrested around 1 a.m. on Wednesday in the Queen and Spadina area.
He has been charged with one count of robbery and two counts of fail to comply with probation.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday morning.
Police are still working to identify a woman seen in the video taking a cell phone that fell onto the road during the scuffle.
Police describe the woman as non-white, with a long, black ponytail. She was wearing a black hat, dark 3/4-length winter coat with a fur trim, black winter boots with tassels and red soles, and carrying a black purse. She was seen getting out of a dark-blue Honda CRV which was parked on the south side of Elm Street, with a trailer hitch.
With files from Toronto staff
