Crime-fighter stops thief by pretending his iPhone is a gun

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iPhone sales
Stop or I'll shoot... you with the high-quality rear camera.
Photo: Apple

A suspected car thief in Miami was held at the scene until cops arrived by an enterprising iPhone owner. The Apple customer was able to trick the apparent crook by holding his iPhone like a gun.

The iPhone user was home when his wife saw someone going through the couple’s Mercedes AMG S-class sedan. He then decided to do whatever he could to keep the burglar on site until the police could show up.

“I pointed the phone to him, and I said, ‘Lay down,’” he told news outlet WSVN. “I start screaming, ‘What are you doing there?’ And he tried to come towards me, and I said, ‘Stay there. Don’t come here.’”

The unnamed crime-stopper got the thief to lie face down on the ground and put his hands behind his back. The suspected thief, 27-year-old Sheldon Johnson, was subsequently arrested. He faces several charges, including burglary, attempted grand theft auto and resisting arrest without violence. It turns out that he was also wanted for other crimes under an alias. Johnson had previously been arrested for petty theft, burglary and robbery.

Johnson appeared in bond court last Wednesday.

Apple devices stopping crimes

This isn’t the first time an Apple device has been used to stop a crime. Recently, the “Find my iPad” feature on a stolen iPad helped cops track down the thieves responsible for taking a police deputy’s gun and tactical gear.

Then there was the time an iPhone blocked a bullet fired at a Fresno State student. The iPhone owner was fired at by a ski mask-wearing thief, who took his backpack.

We’ll stop short of saying that the iPhone is your ticket out of a difficult situation (especially given how widely they’re targeted by muggers). However, in some instances they’ve certainly proven to be worth every cent their owners paid for them.

Via: Apple Insider

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