iPhone GPS App Used to Track Down Stolen Car

With smartphones these days having built in GPS chips, you'd figure that you'd never lose your phone. Not only that, but in theory you should never lose anything that's currently carrying your phone either.

So goes the story of a man who had his Land Rover stolen from a Wichita Falls, TX Mariott. Inside his Land Rover was his iPhone that he had the Find My iPhone app installed. Using that app, he and the authorities were able to track down his car.

This is the account of his story:

My iPhone was in the car in between the seats and turned on. I tracked it using MobileMe Find My Phone to HWY 287 on the way to Decature. When they exited the highway and headed on a Farm road for Justin TX a few miles away, I contacted the Justin Police and with the help of a very savy operator we pinpointed the car at a Sonic. While I was on the phone with her, she said the officer sees your car and is going to make the arrest. A few minutes later she frantically calls me to start tracking the car again. The officer had handcuffed the suspects, sat one down on the curb while putting the other in the back seat. When he got back, the guy had Houdini'd the cuffs from behind his back to the front, fought with the officer and jumped in my car, dragged him and ran over him. I followed the car on the iPhone and directed the Highway Patrol to where he was - high speed chase ending with him flipping the Land Rover several times.

Thankfully, the brave officer will be ok.

Grab the Find My iPhone App here.

Marcus Yam is a technology evangelist for Intel Corporation, the latest in a long line of tech-focused roles spanning a more than 20-year career in the industry. As Executive Editor, News on Tom's Guide and Tom's Hardware, Marcus was responsible for shaping the sites' news output, and he also spent a period as Editor of Outdoors & Sports at Digital Trends.