A woman was drinking coffee with a friend at a table outside Metro cafe in lower Stuart St when a young man pushed her aside and grabbed her smartphone.
"You would think you would be safe in the middle of the town," the victim said last night, "but I just got out of my seat and chased him."
Running within metres of her assailant and yelling for the public to stop him, she chased the man into Bath St before she had to give way to cars on George St.
She then followed him up an escalator through the Dunedin City Council plaza, before losing sight of him.
Asked what she would have done if she had caught the man, the former England resident said: "I dread to think. I probably would have taken him out."
"I am guessing my phone will be long gone now ... I hope police manage to catch up with him."
Senior Sergeant Brian Benn said CCTV footage showed the young man and two female companions walking past the victim's table. He later watched her from the Octagon.
The footage showed the two young women later heading towards Bath St, while the young man headed to snatch the LG smartphone.
"It is a very cheeky theft."
The offender was described as in his late teens, wearing a blue checked shirt and slim-fitting jeans, of slim build, about 175cm tall and with facial hair.
"We need to catch the offender, because I would like to recommend them both for the Olympic relay team ... probably the 400m relay, because they are both really quick."
Snr Sgt Benn praised the city's CCTV cameras, which provided images that assisted police with their inquiries.
