A sandwich in one hand, a gun in the other. That’s how police say 24-year-old Anthony Mordi allegedly pulled off a brazen armed robbery of an iPhone in Arlington last month, just hours after another phone theft in nearby Keller.
Mordi was arrested on January 17 after authorities connected him to both incidents, according to Arlington police. The suspect allegedly held a man at gunpoint during what was supposed to be a routine phone purchase, then drove away with both the victim’s money and the iPhone — all while casually eating a foot-long sandwich.
“I just didn’t want to get hurt in this situation. It kind of blew my mind how quickly he peeled it away,” the victim told FOX 4’s David Sentendry. “It was maybe 20 seconds, and it was super effortlessly.”
The victim, who requested anonymity, seemed particularly struck by the casual nature of the robbery. “I didn’t think he was going to peel off. He had like a full-foot long sub on his lap,” he recounted.
A Pattern of Phone Thefts
What makes the case particularly concerning for law enforcement is the apparent escalation. Investigators discovered that Mordi had allegedly stolen another phone just hours earlier in Keller, though that incident didn’t involve a weapon.
The Arlington robbery represents a troubling trend of marketplace meetups gone wrong. Local police departments have increasingly established safe exchange zones at their facilities precisely to prevent such incidents, though many buyers and sellers still opt for convenience over safety.
How did authorities track him down? While details of the investigation remain limited, surveillance footage and electronic evidence likely played crucial roles in identifying Mordi as the suspect in both cases.
The victim’s detailed description — including the unusual detail about the sandwich — may have also helped investigators connect the dots between the two incidents that occurred on the same day.
Mordi now faces serious charges including armed robbery. The case serves as a stark reminder of the potential dangers in peer-to-peer marketplace transactions — even when they involve something as common as buying a phone. And perhaps, that eating lunch while committing armed robbery isn’t the smoothest criminal operation.
