DENVER -- Denver police have arrested a man suspected of mangling a shopper's finger while stealing a brand-new iPad.

Authorities say 20-year-old Brandon Darnell Smith was arrested early Saturday in a traffic stop.

Police suspect Smith is the man who yanked the shopping bag containing the iPad from 59-year-old Bill Jordan on Thursday.

A cord from the bag was wrapped around Jordan's left hand. Doctors amputated part of Jordan's pinky finger because the flesh was stripped to the bone.

Jordan had just bought the iPad at a Denver mall for a co-worker.

He said police showed him a photo line-up, and he instantly recognized the suspect.

"For people who may have been harmed in the future, it's a wonderful thing," Jordan said to 7NEWS Reporter Jaclyn Allen. "It's bittersweet. The bitter part of it is there is nothing anybody can do to replace this. It is what it is."

Still, he said he hopes his story serves as a warning to all shoppers.

The crime happened in broad daylight in a busy shopping mall.

"If there's anything good that comes out of this it will be that people will say to themselves, 'We need to be more careful,'" said Jordan.

Smith faces charges of robbery and second-degree assault. He hasn't entered a plea and it's unclear whether he has an attorney.