A Stolen iPhone Stolen Again From the Thief

By this point, we all know that iPhone thefts in New York City, and in our own neighborhood, have been on the rise (in fact, another neighbor recently reported hers was stolen from her pocket while she shopped on Cortelyou Road). But this story the Times ran over the weekend takes the cake.

Apparently a girl was walking home through Prospect Park when some boys grabbed her iPhone and took off. One of the boys headed to our area to try to sell the phone, and when he showed it to a potential customer on Bedford Ave, that man then stole the stolen phone!

If only the story ended there. Instead, the original thief flagged down a police car to report the second theft. Police arrested the second thief, and took him and the first thief, whom they believed to be the phone’s owner, to the 70th Precinct.

Meanwhile the phone’s actual owner, the girl, was in a 78th Precinct patrol car trying to track down the thieves. The cop with her offered to try calling the phone, which was now in another officer’s hands at the 70th:

Confused, the other officer identified himself.

“You’re a cop?” Officer Pacheco asked, suspicious. “From where?”

“The seven-oh,” the officer replied, reciting each digit of his precinct in the manner in which officers are trained.

“Oh,” Officer Pacheco said, satisfied. “I’m from the seven-eight.”

The officer from the 70th Precinct said, “I have a complainant.”

So do I, Officer Pacheco said.

They came up with a plan.

The upshot is that this is one of the few iPhones that’s been reconnected with its owner in our area. Unfortunately, we’ve heard that even having the Find My iPhone app, which has been recommended by our own Commanding Officer Eric Rodriguez, might not help you recover your phone after it’s been stolen. So, as always, be careful out there when using your iPhone.