Gene Wood, an operations manager at Ask.com, the Barry Diller-owned search engine beloved by Midwestern moms, wrestled a mugger to the ground rather than lose his iPhone, for which he paid $499. While riding on a subway train in San Francisco and watching a movie, Wood felt a hand reach behind him and snatch the phone. Wood, who is 6 feet tall and weighs 240 pounds, jumped from his seat and pursued the thief. Here's his harrowing account of how he got his iPhone back through hand-to-hand combat — and got away with just one small, if nasty, head wound:

I jumped on his back and got my arm around his neck tackling him to the ground. We slide up against the brick wall that makes up the stairs going up at Church. I bring my other arm around and push his face into the corner of the wall and the ground with my elbow. At this point I terrified myself a bit as I'm on top of him screaming at the top of my lungs "Give my fuckin phone back bitch!" I grab the phone which is wedged between him and the ground and pry it from his hands.

This all happened before the train left the station. Wood walked back on, to a stunned audience of fellow commuters: A note to Wood: In case you haven't heard, iPhones have gotten a bit cheaper since you bought yours. Thought about just upgrading?