Security app leads police to stolen iPads -- and burglary suspect

Source: The Santa Fe New MexicanJan.文件倉 03--Jennifer Kimball once lost her cellphone when she accidentally left it at a hair salon. Kimball said that was a mistake she didn't want to repeat, so with some help from one of her colleagues, she installed the application Find My iPhone on her new phone, as well as two iPads belonging to herself and her husband."Never in a 1,000 years did I think it would capture a thief," Kimball said Thursday afternoon.But that's just what happened on New Year's Eve. Police believe David Wheeler, 22, pried open a window at Kimball's home in the 1400 block of Canyon Road at about 4:30 p.m. and swiped the two iPads.Kimball said that when she arrived at her home, she heard someone rummaging around inside, but the suspect fled before she could confront him. Kimball said she then did a quick search and realized the iPads were missing.She called the police, she said, and when they arrived, they asked her if she had the Find My iPhone app."I was so rattled," she said. "They totally prompted it. It would never have been used."The application -- called Find My iPhone or Find My Mac for other Apple devices -- allows owners to track their lost, misplaced or stolen devices using any computer or Apple device with an Internet connection, according to the app's description on the Apple App Store.The owner can wipe personal information from the electronic device or lock the device to shield personal information, as well as send a message to the device with a contact number so that someone who finds it can call to return it.Apple product users can get Find My iPhone for free from Apple's App Store, or they can download other similar applications. Security apps are also available for Android devices at the Google Play Store.Kimball fired up the app on her iPhone, and she was able track the devices live on a map as the suspect fled to a home in the 800 block of Alto Street. Kimball said an officer stayed with her and was able to describe the suspect's whereabouts to officers searching for him.Find My iPhone didn't give an exact address for the存倉location of the iPads, but officers were able to home in on them using Google Maps' streetscape function, which showed a yellow car parked in the area from which the iPad signal was coming.Officers then searched two nearby homes. A news release stated they found Wheeler hiding in a bedroom in a house on Alto Street. Police said they also matched a shoe print found on Kimball's property to the sneakers Wheeler was wearing. Officers arrested him on charges of burglary and receiving stolen property.The release said the missing iPads were found on a chair in the living room of the house.Santa Fe Police Department spokeswoman Celina Westervelt said Wheeler said his first name was Vincent when he was booked into Santa Fe County jail, but officers believe his name is David. He might face additional charges for giving a fake name to police.Kimball said police returned the stolen iPads just a couple of hours after they were taken from her home. Officers originally asked her for serial numbers, she said, but the app -- and the fact that her husband's iPad was engraved with a personalized message -- helped prove ownership.Westervelt said Kimball did the right thing by calling police instead of trying to track down the thieves by herself. She also said the tracking application helped locate Wheeler quickly.As for Kimball, she refuses to take any credit for the recovery of the iPads."It was amazing, amazing police work," she said. "They should get all the credit."Wheeler is currently being held at the Santa Fe County jail in lieu of a $20,000 cash bond. He has a lengthy history of property crimes, according to a police department news release.On Monday, the owner of an iPad in Little Rock, Ark., used the same app to lead police to two men who had stolen two Apple laptops and an iPad in a home burglary hours earlier.Contact Chris Quintana at 986-3093 or cquintana@sfnewmexican.com.Copyright: ___ (c)2014 The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.) Visit The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.) at .santafenewmexican.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存