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Mom Uses iPhone App to Track Missing Son to Police Precinct Holding Cell

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | November 13, 2014 2:14pm
 A worried mother looking for her 16-year-old son discovered that he was a robbery suspect after she tracked his phone to the 103rd Precinct in Jamaica, police said.
A worried mother looking for her 16-year-old son discovered that he was a robbery suspect after she tracked his phone to the 103rd Precinct in Jamaica, police said.
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Getty Images/Justin Sullivan

QUEENS — A worried mother hunting for her 16-year-old son on Halloween night used an iPhone app to track him — only to find him in the 103rd Precinct stationhouse in Jamaica being questioned for a string of robberies.

The teen and two acquaintances were suspected of committing four robberies late last month in the area bordered by Hillside and Jamaica avenues and 175th and 185th streets, police said.

"She literally came into the precinct because she tracked his phone into the precinct and asked: 'Is my son here?' said Deputy Inspector John Cappelmann, commanding officer of the 103rd Precinct.

Police said the trio is suspected of approaching people from behind, striking some of the victims in the head before stealing cellphones and wallets.

Two of the incidents took place on Halloween night within a two-hour time span, Cappelmann said at a recent community meeting. The two other incidents occured within the three-week period prior to Halloween.

Officers monitoring the area on Halloween caught the 16-year-old and a 15-year-old girl, police said. The teens' names were not released. The other suspect remains at large.

Police said the teens have been charged with one robbery, which occured around 11:30 p.m. on Halloween on Hillside Avenue and 179th Street, police said. Officials said they do not have enough evidence to charge them with the other robberies.

The mother of the 16-year-old told police she'd been calling her son for about 2 to 3 hours to come home but he hadn't answered.

She then tracked his iPhone, which led her to the 103rd Precinct.

Cappelmann said when he spoke to the teen, the boy said: "I should have listened to her and I should have gone home."

The teen, Cappelmann said, has two prior arrests, both in October, one for robbery, the other for assault.