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Criminals Still Haven't Learnt To Turn Off "Find My iPhone"


By

Ben Yakas

Published Aug 11, 2012

Modified Aug 11, 2012


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By

Ben Yakas

Published Aug 11, 2012

Modified Aug 11, 2012


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The Find My iPhone app has become an invaluable tool for police to catch criminals—it's so important, cops have been TRAINED to use the program to nip iPhone thefts in the bud. And criminals still haven't learnt their lesson: in the latest Find My iPhone success story, cops used the app to catch a 17-year-old and his grandmother's boyfriend who had broken into an expensive Williamsburg apartment.

According to the News, a 32-year-old woman reported a break-in at her apartment on N. Sixth St. in Williamsburg around 7 p.m. Thursday. The burglars had taken her iPhone and laptop—and with a snap of his fingers, Police Officer Steven Pedullo used his own iPhone to bring up the app and track the stolen phone to Crown Heights.

When they got there, the woman saw a man carrying a travel bag which was hers. Police found the woman's ID and credit card in 49-year-old Ralph Campbell's pocket. They soon caught and arrested Campbell's girlfriend's grandson, Malik Saeed, who was spotted on surveillance video in the victim's building. Both men have been charged with burglary and criminal possession of stolen property charges—no charges have been filed for criminal incompetence as of yet. It could have been even more embarrassing too: one of them could have been caught with the iPhone down their pants.

Tagged

brooklyn

burglary

Crown Heights

find my iphone

iphone

williamsburg


Ben Yakas

Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


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