Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Bottle Opener-Wielding Thief Tracked Down Using iPhone App, NYPD Says

By Maya Rajamani | August 31, 2016 6:21pm
 A straphanger used the “Find My iPhone” app to track down a thief who threatened him with a bottle opener after stealing his phone, the NYPD said.
A straphanger used the “Find My iPhone” app to track down a thief who threatened him with a bottle opener after stealing his phone, the NYPD said.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Nigel Chiwaya

MIDTOWN — A straphanger used an iPhone app to track down a thief who threatened him with a bottle opener after stealing his phone, the NYPD said.

The 30-year-old victim, from Manhattan, was riding a southbound D train that had just left the subway station at 53rd Street and Seventh Avenue around 5:20 a.m. on Aug. 23 when David Carter Sr., 51,  got on the train and slipped the man’s iPhone 6s out of his pocket as he tried to make conversation with him, the NYPD said.

The victim and another passenger tried to get the phone back as the train pulled into the 47th-50th Sts. Rockefeller Center station, but Carter pointed a metal bottle opener at him and pushed his arm away, police and a complaint filed with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office said.

The man followed Carter onto the train platform and pushed a 911 button, but lost sight of the thief after he ran away, police said.

Soon after, the victim and a police officer activated his Find My iPhone app and saw that Carter was on a Brooklyn-bound train, the NYPD said.

The two then drove to Downtown Brooklyn, where they saw Carter standing on a corner at the intersection of Fulton and Smith streets, police said.

They heard the stolen cellphone ringing when they dialed it, the NYPD said.

When the officer tried to arrest Carter, he flailed his arms and kicked him, police said.

The metal bottle opener was found in Carter’s pants pocket, and the stolen phone was discovered inside the elastic at the bottom of his pants, police and the DA’s office said.

He was arrested and charged with robbery, criminal possession of a weapon, grand larceny and resisting arrest, the DA’s office said.

He is currently being held at the West Facility on Rikers Island and is expected to appear in court on Sept. 27, city Department of Correction records show.

An attorney for Carter did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.