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Phoenix woman uses app to track down and help police capture burglar

Posted at 12:08 PM, Aug 15, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-15 21:52:38-04

 A Valley woman is credited with outsmarting an alleged thief using Apple's "Find My" app.

Michelle Saran was out for a birthday dinner when she returned home to charge her iPhone. That's when she noticed something was amiss.

"I looked at my husband like, 'What the heck is going on? Where's this, where's that?'" said Saran.

Suddenly Saran and her husband realized their home had been burglarized. Several iPads, chargers, and other small electronics were missing.

Saran notified Apple, and soon after Apple responded.

"I got an email saying, 'Hey it's been turned on, this is where its at,'" said Saran.

Saran's iPads were "pinging" across town near 7th Avenue and Osborn.

Saran and her husband called police, then jumped in their car to track down the thief using Saran's son's iPad that the thief had missed.

Phoenix Police soon caught up with the couple, and as they were telling them what they could see, Terence Lamont Thompson rode by on a bike.

"The guy actually rode his bike right behind our car with his backpack and you could see it pinging behind us," said Saran.

The iPad had recorded Thompson's every stop.

"It looked like he was casing other houses or bouncing around trying to sell all this stuff," recalled Saran.

That's when Phoenix Police officers moved in, and in Thompson's bag they found all of Saran's electronics, along with a bag of methamphetamine.

"Phoenix Police did an amazing job retrieving all my stuff and making me feel safe," said Saran.

Thompson claims he found the bag in an alley.

He was arrested and charged with possession of stolen goods.