MobileMe's Find My iPhone Feature Used To Track Down Robbers, Again
August 31, 2009
Apple's Find My iPhone feature has once again had a hand in returning an iPhone to its rightful owner after it had been stolen, and thankfully this time the victim decided to turn to the police instead of trying to personally solve the case.
The victim, whose name has been withheld, told the Pittsburgh police that three robbers held him at gunpoint, which later turned out to be a pellet gun, and forced him to hand over his wallet, PIN number, and iPhone. After the confrontation he quickly called police and cancelled all of his credit cards, but he didn't stop there.
Later on in the day, the victim decided to use MobileMe's Find My iPhone feature to attempt to hunt down the perpetrators, assuming they weren't savvy enough to realize the iPhone's capabilities and simply shut the device off. As it turns out, they weren't. The Pittsburgh Police were able to apprehend the suspects at a local restaurant after the victim had tracked their location.
The three suspects remain in police custody and they will be charged with two counts each of access device fraud, conspiracy, receiving stolen property and possessing instruments of crime.
The moral of the story is that crime really doesn't pay, especially when you are trying to steal an iPhone.
[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]