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Teen Tracks Down Cellphone Thief Via MySpace
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 27, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 27, 2008
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Kids today may be spending too much time online and with their gadgets, but at least they can track down the jerks who rob them of their cellphones. Sixteen-year-old Yudelka Polanco managed to find the guy who stole her SIdekick Slide with a little detective work.
Polanco was walking home in Williamsburg last month when a guy grabbed the phone. (The Post reports she had "no chance of catching the young thief" because she was tired and carrying a large bookbag.) When she received her replacement phone two weeks later, a message gave her thief's email address. Polanco explained, "He had signed on to his e-mail with my SIM [subscriber identity module] card still in the phone."
Polanco used the email address in a MySpace search "because nowadays everybody has MySpace" and found his picture, which was only a profile shot. Deciding she wanted to give the police more evidence, she devised a sting where a friend started a friendship with 16-year-old Victor Hernandez. It's so Veronica Mars! From the Post:
The friend was able to collect more pictures and information on him.
Having done most of the investigative work, Polanco went to cops with a plethora of pictures of the thug. Then, based on of the information on his MySpace page, cops surmised that Hernandez was in a local gang called "DPL."
Cops eventually were able to find Hernandez and hauled him into the 90th Precinct station house Monday for questioning, law-enforcement sources said.
Not only did Polanco identify Fernandez, who was charged with grand larceny, menacing and more, he was also charged with a January 30 incident where "20 people... congregated in front of Señor Taco restaurant on Havermeyer Street with machetes, metal bats, canes and glass bottles."
The Post put this story on the cover - maybe because parent company News Corp also owns MySpace? And remember that crazy stolen Sidekick soap opera from Evan Was Here?
Tagged
crime
myspace
news
news corp
robbery
Sidekick
The Police
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veronica mars
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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