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Police Use Find My iPhone To Locate Violent Thief In Queens
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Oct 6, 2013
Modified Oct 6, 2013
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Oct 6, 2013
Modified Oct 6, 2013
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Police used a Queens robbery victim's Find My iPhone app to track down her assailant, who allegedly choked her while he stole her phone.
According to an NYPD release, the victim, a 17-year-old woman, was standing at a bus stop in Corona when a man approached and began choking her while taking her iPhone from inside her purse. The man then jumped into the passenger's seat of a car and fled the scene. The victim did not suffer any injuries.
Police who responded to the robbery used the Find My iPhone app to track the phone three miles south to Forest Hills and found the suspect sitting in the car with two other men. All three were arrested. The assailant, 29-year-old Michael Iglesias, is charged with robbery criminal possession of a stolen property.
The getaway driver, 27-year-old Augustin Rodriguez, who also drives a bus for the MTA, was charged along with 28-year-old Sayli Llonch with criminal possession of stolen property, but the Queens DA's office told the Post that there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute those two men.
The NYPD has made thefts of Apple gadgets a major priority, setting up stings and urging customers to register their devices with the police department.
Tagged
corona
find my iphone
iphone crime
queens
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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