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iPhone Mugger Thwarted by Tech-Savvy Cop in Brooklyn

A cop using GPS technology tracked down a woman's stolen iPhone in Downtown Brooklyn on Tues., March 20, 2012.
A cop using GPS technology tracked down a woman's stolen iPhone in Downtown Brooklyn on Tues., March 20, 2012.
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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

BROOKLYN — A quick-thinking cop used GPS technology to track a stolen iPhone after it was taken at gunpoint inside a Downtown Brooklyn subway station, police said.

The mugger approached the 32-year-old victim inside the High Street Station Tuesday afternoon and swiped her smartphone and pocketbook, the NYPD said.

After the woman reported the incident to cops outside the station, Police Officer Benito Ocasio used the woman’s iTunes account to track the stolen phone, tracing it to an address in the nearby Farragut Houses, cops said.

There, they arrested the suspect, Brian Mack, 55. Police discovered that the suspect also had the victim’s state ID card and several of her credit cards.

Mack, who is homeless, is charged with robbery, weapons possession, grand larceny, menacing and criminal trespass, police said.