Police: iPhone app helps solve crime spree

Neal Augenstein, wtop.com

KENSINGTON, Md. — A quick-thinking victim of a stolen iPhone helped Montgomery County Police not only recover his smartphone, but apparently also solve a string of thefts from autos.

Police Wednesday night responded to a 911 call from a man who said his iPhone had been stolen from his truck in the 9600 block of Elrod Road in Kensington.

As police were responding, the man picked up his iPad, and activated the Find My iPhone application, which uses GPS technology to locate an owner’s phone.

The victim provided the information to police. Nearby officers were directed to the 3000 block of Upton Drive in Kensington, where police located two men on foot.

In the nearby shrubs, county police and a U.S. Park Police officer found the iPhone.

Police determined the two men, Daniel Covey and Michael Rigby, were driving a stolen Toyota truck. The men had backpacks that police say were filled with stolen GPS units.

Covey and Rigby are each charged with multiple counts of theft related to the Toyota, possession of burglary tools, conspiracy to commit theft and attempted theft from an earlier incident. Covey also faces drug charges, and Rigby is charged with possession of the stolen GPS units.

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