iPhone Thief Tracks Himself For Police With GPS

By

@The Brooklyn Paper / Bess Adler
@The Brooklyn Paper / Bess Adler

Note to crooks: the grab-and-snatch iPhone tactic just got a little more risky now that GPS apps can tell police exactly where you are after you take it.

Horatio Toure, a 31-year-old crook in San Francisco, learned this the hard way.

He pedaled up on a bike, snatched a woman’s iPhone, then rode away. He didn’t know the victim was part of a company’s demonstration of a real-time GPS tracking program called Alert & Respond from Covia Labs SF Gate tells us.

Just 10 minutes later and only a half-mile from the scene of the crime, police nabbed him.  He was booked into jail on suspicion of grand theft and possession of stolen property.

Of course, this is great publicity for the new service, but as we reported Apple’s Find my iPhone program for MobileMe subscribers has also already tracked down another unlucky iPhone thief in much the same manner.

It’ll be interesting to see if these apps become widespread enough to deter thieves in quick-grab operations, which some police accounts say are on the rise.

Via SF Gate

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.