Apple iPhone Robbery Thwarted By Tech-Savvy Cop

How do you solve a crime in 30 minutes or less? All you need is a cop who knows his tech. Police Officer Robert Garland was able to successfully track down an iPhone thief and return the device to its rightful owner thanks to his quick thinking and his knowledge of the app "Find My iPhone." It all went down yesterday in New York City.

It happened at around 7:00 PM. A cashier at luxury clothing and accessories store Tuci Italia was taking a break when a man walked into the store and pointed a gun at her. Presumably hoping to make as quick a getaway as possible, he demanded she hand over her iPhone which was in plain sight. The cashier rushed outside, and as fate would have it Officer Garland, an Apple enthusiast, was right there.

Garland quickly opened his Find My iPhone app, punched in the victim's Apple ID, and instantly pinpointed the suspect about 10 blocks away. He and his partner hopped into their cruiser and continued to follow the spot on the app until it stopped near a local supermarket. At that time, Garland knew what to do – he pushed the "Play Sound" button on the app and, like clockwork, a pinging sound was emitted about 20 feet away. The victim, who was not identified, couldn't believe she got her iPhone back so quickly. Good thing she happened to run into a police officer who knows Apple. Garland and his wife both have iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers at home.

[via NY Times]