Durban - Three men have been arrested in central Durban after an iPhone App helped police track stolen goods to a pawn shop less than an hour after the items were taken from a car in uMhlanga.
La Lucia resident Jason Anthony stopped at uMhlanga Centre, formerly Buxton’s Centre, at about 5.15pm last week.
He claimed that a remote car jamming ploy prevented him from locking his car.
On returning to his car about 10 minutes later he noticed his Apple laptop and iPad were missing.
“I called the cops. The carguards said they saw a Polo parked next to my car. A guy got out, went into my car and then sped away,” he said.
On arrival, Durban North police officers noticed Anthony had an iPhone and inquired as to whether he had the “Find my iPhone” App, which he did.
“They asked me to start tracking my iPad and we saw it was in Durban,” he said.
Anthony accompanied the officers to the CBD, tracking the stolen goods to their final location at a pawn shop at the intersection of McArthur and Joseph Nduli (Russell) streets.
On entering the shop, the two men behind the counter denied any knowledge of the items, and Anthony was asked to press the tracking device causing the iPad to chime within the shop.
After sifting under papers and other material in the shop, the two items were found.
A police source said three foreigners (two were behind the counter at the time the police entered, another entered later) who identified themselves as the owners of the shop were arrested and charged with receiving stolen goods.
The men were expected to appear in court today.
Daily News