In an essay dedicated to the incident and published Tuesday on LSM's Latvian-language site, Strazdiņa described the robber as a "short and broad-shouldered Afghani guy a little older than twenty, with well-cut hair and a beard".
According to Strazdiņa, the thief grabbed the phone from her as she was taking a photo of Afghani men listening to music by an open-air fire.
Strazdiņa went after him, with both her and the perpetrator repeatedly landing in puddles during the chase.
Finally she cornered the thief whose way was blocked by a thorny patch of bushes and asked, "Give it back to me!" After seemingly hesitating for a minute, the young man jumped over the bush, while Strazdiņa, it seems leaping after him, landed on her side in the thorns and hurt her arms.
She later returned to the Afghani men who gave her tissues to put on her wounds.
The Calais "jungle" in northern France is plagued by violence and disorder, including attacks against journalists. Last week a female interpreter was raped at knifepoint and inhabitants of the camp hurdled stones at Sky News journalists.
French authorities have begun to raze the camp in an operation that started Monday.
