Police use iPhone application to track down suspected thief
Published: July 25, 2012
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A St. John man could not outsmart a stolen smart phone Sunday night.
Police say they found Lodwin Ashton, 47, of Grunwald, in possession of an iPhone that had been stolen from the Beach Bar in Wharfside Village, Cruz Bay. But Lodwin failed to turn off a function in the phone that lets users map the phone's location, allowing police and the victim to track down Asthon and the phone, according to a probable cause fact sheet filed Monday in V.I. Magistrate Court.
V.I. Police Officer Alicia Chemont was on patrol in Cruz Bay when two friends, Adam Ansari and Christopher Chung, approached her and said someone stole Ansari's iPhone 4S off a chair at Beach Bar, the fact sheet states. Chung immediately began using his iPhone to track the location of Ansari's phone with a service called Find My iPhone, which allows users to locate an iPhone on a map and remotely lock or erase it.
They told Chemont the phone appeared to be in the vicinity of King Street and went with Chemont and another officer to the location, the fact sheet states. There, the Find My iPhone service showed Ansari's phone was headed toward the docks in Cruz Bay.
Three officers, including Chemont, saw Ashton "walking in the exact same area" indicated by the tracking application.
They then used the application to watch the phone travel east toward Kongens Gade before stopping in the vicinity of Prince Street. Again, they observed Ashton "standing in the exact same location" as indicated by the application.
Police then told Chung to call Ansari's phone as the officers approached the suspect.
Police then approached Ashton and asked him if he was in possession of an iPhone that did not belong to him.
"Yes, Greeney gave it me," Ashton allegedly said.
The fact sheet contains no information on the identity of "Greeney."
As Ashton reached into his pocket to hand officers the phone, it began ringing with a call from Chung's number, Chemont wrote.
Ashton was arrested, charged with possession of stolen property and transported to jail. Bond was set at $1,000, and Ashton was advised of his rights Monday morning, court records state.
- Contact reporter Lou Mattei at 714-9124 or email lmattei@dailynews.vi.
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