Phone thefts mar weekend music festival

Hundreds of phones were stolen at the Breakaway Music Festival at Mapfre Stadium over the weekend, according to Columbus police and several attendees.

Festivalgoers said phones were lifted from their pockets or purses by unseen thieves who, in many cases, managed to swipe them without drawing attention. One woman said she spotted a group of teenagers grabbing phones in a thick crowd.

The three-day gathering began Friday and featured performances from electronic dance music DJs and hip-hop artists.

Some victims said they used apps to find their phones but to no avail, meaning the thieves likely disconnected the phones from the internet.

The extent of the phone thefts is difficult to determine because not everyone who said a phone was stolen filled out a police report, a Columbus Division of Police spokeswoman said.

Mike Barrett, of Cincinnati, said his son attended the festival and had two phones stolen. The first was taken Friday night, then a phone that he got as a replacement was stolen Saturday, Barrett said.

Barrett said employees at a Verizon store told his son they were flooded with people looking for replacement phones on Saturday.

Greg Osborne, 33, of Gahanna, said his wife’s phone was stolen from her purse.

Tara Murphy, 27, of Indianapolis, attended Breakaway with friends who live in Columbus. Two of them had their phones stolen, she said. One phone was taken from a bag and another from a back pocket.

Breakaway organizers said more than 30,000 people attended the three-day festival.