iPhone Tracks Down and Helps Arrest Burglars

We love these types of stories on iDB. When the iPhone is used to thwart criminals, it’s always fun to read about.

The story of Lilli Gordon and her missing iPhone details how the smartphone’s GPS was used by authorities to track down the thieves and Lilli’s stolen valuables. Hopefully stories like this will teach would-be-prowlers that smartphones aren’t the best items to steal…

Lilli Gordon, her mom, and her aunt stopped at a park on the way to the airport in Multnomah County, Oregon.

“Gordon said the parking lot was busy with people walking around.

“There were people all around,” Gordon said. “We felt very safe.”

The group left Gordon’s car to stretch and take in the park’s view, and all of Gordon’s valuables were left in the car. Her iPhone, MacBook Pro, and other expensive items were stolen out of the car by two burglars, Nicholas Barnard and Lonnie Rogers. When Gordon and her family returned to her car, she noticed that her car had been broken into and her valuables were missing.

Needless to say, Gordon immediately contacted the authorities,

“Gordon said she thought her stuff was gone. Deputies told her the chances of them recovering the items were low. At the airport, Gordon and her mom tried to get on another flight to California. It’s then, Gordon said, she remembered that she had installed an app on her cell phone that allows the user to track the phone’s location.”

While the Fox 12 report doesn’t mention the exact app that was used to track down the perpetrators, the story does make it seem like it could have been Apple’s own Find My iPhone service.

“From the airport, Gordon called her father in California who logged onto his computer and started looking at the location of the phone. Lowell Gordon said he saw the phone had been at his sister-in-laws house which he expected. However, he said he grew suspicious when he noticed the computer said the phone was in North Portland.”

As the authorities and Gordon’s father worked together, they got closer to finding the fleeing thieves. This is where the story starts getting good:

“Lindstrand said deputies along with two Portland police officers went to the home in the 3900-block of North Kiska Street. There, police were allowed to search a vehicle in the driveway where some of Lilli’s stuff was found.

“The iPhone was still missing,” Lindstrand and said.

Deputies were given the log-in information by Lowell Gordon and a short time later, he noticed the phone was “moving.” He called deputies and they went to the phone’s location near North Lombard and North Chicago in Portland. The deputy looking at the G-P-S tracking information on his mobile computer in the squad car was able to direct a third deputy to a specific spot at that intersection, Lindstrand said. The deputy at the intersection met up with three adult males who were sitting underneath a tree.  The deputy speaking to the three men requested the deputy tracking the phone to “send an alert” and the stolen iPhone rang in one of the male’s pocket, Lindstrand said.

Deputies arrested Barnard and Rogers.”

Can you imagine being the idiot dumb enough to leave a stolen iPhone turned on and fully operational in your pocket while being questioned by the police? These guys deserved to be caught after acting so clumsily.

Barnard and Rogers were promptly arrested and Lilli Gordon presumably got her valuables back. Way to go, iPhone.

So, what’s the moral of the story? – Don’t steal an iPhone if you’re going to be dumb enough to leave the GPS on. Better yet, just don’t steal.

[image via Fox 5]