An officer with the New York Police Department used his own personal iPhone and Apple’s Find my iPhone app to retrieve a stolen iPhone and nail the thief after the victim was robbed while shopping for handbags.

After finding the woman crying after the attack, Officer Garland reassured her, boldly stating in a Liam Neeson-like manner, “I’m going to find your iPhone”.

The New York Times reports (via iMore):

The police said an officer used a tracking feature on his iPhone to locate and arrest a man suspected of stealing a woman’s iPhone at a handbag store on Thursday night.

[...]

After a fruitless canvass of the area, one officer, Robert Garland, tried another tack. Using the 24-year-old victim’s iTunes account information and the iCloud feature on his own phone, Mr. Garland was able to track the victim’s iPhone.

While Find my iPhone has been used by many to locate their own stolen Apple products, this is the first time I’ve heard of an officer being so resourceful to use the feature to track down an iPhone bandit.

Nice work, Officer Garland!