Apple’s “Find My” app was used by police in Australia to track two men from the air in a dramatic police chase, following an iPad stolen during a home invasion.
The Sydney Morning Herald notes that 29-year-old Vaatoa Chang and 36-year-old Jonas Montealegre carried the iPad with them as they switched stolen cars. The pursuit, which took place February 4, lasted for two hours.
The thieves died when they ran a red light in a stolen Toyota Kluger. Their vehicle collided with a freight truck at high speed, and both died at the scene. Police shared details of the police pursuit during a Coroners Court hearing this week. A coroner has urged witnesses to come forward to help with the investigation.
The report notes that, following the home invasion during which the iPad was stolen, “the victim opened his tracking app, which pinged the iPad, and … began following his stolen Triton.” While the initial getaway vehicle was dumped, the stolen iPad was moved into a Toyota Kluger. The Sydney Morning Herald report says that:
“Over the following two hours the men were traced heading to the Sunshine Motor Inn and across the suburb before a brief police pursuit on the Western Ring Road. Police then tracked the Kluger to Tullamarine, Epping, Mernda and Thomastown.
Police used spikes to blow out two of the Kluger’s tyres on High Street, Thomastown, but the SUV continued heading south.
Officers in the helicopter then reported that the fugitives were attempting to carjack other vehicles, slowing in front of two heading north at the intersection of High and Regent streets in Preston.”
Find My app used to track stolen iPad
Apple introduced its location-tracking app for finding lost devices in June 2010. Initially called Find My iPhone, the app was later replaced by the Find My app in iOS 13. This reflected the growing number of items you could use to track with the app. These include iPhones, iPads, Mac computers, Apple Watch, and AirPods. Apple is reportedly planning to release location-tracking tiles that will make it easy to track a range of other items, such as keys, in a similar way.
Most of the time, Find My is simply used for locating an Apple device that you’ve misplaced at home. But it has also been used in a variety of other scenarios, including criminal incidents, in the past. At the 2018 Coachella music festival, a thief was foiled by the feature after stealing 100 phones. It has also been used to save a kidnapped bride from a forced marriage, track down armed muggers, and find a person’s teenaged daughter who was trapped in a wrecked car at the bottom of an embankment.
Needless to say, if you’re ever in a scenario in which your Apple device has been stolen, you should contact the police rather than trying to use the Find My app to take things into your own hands.
