Locator for Stolen iPhone Leads to Arrest

A 17-year-old Stamford boy who had stolen an iPhone Monday night was able to scare off his pursuers with a knife, but he was foiled by the locator device on the cell phone, police said.

Stamford Police Sgt. William Hinatuk, a spokesman for the department, gave this account of the incident and arrest (the account amounts to an accusation and has not been proven in court):

At about 7:16 p.m. the boy and another juvenile were in Moran's Deli & Restaurant at 655 Pacific St. when he asked one of the people in the store if he could borrow a cell phone to make a call.

When the cell phone was handed to him, the boy rushed out of the store. The victim and another man ran after him, and all three ran in the direction of Fairway supermarket. Police reports are unclear as to what happened to the 17-year-old's companion.

By the time the three reached the parking lot of the Lofts at Yale & Towne building, the boy turned around, reached in his pants pocket and pulled out a knife. That stopped his two pursuers, and he ran off toward the supermarket.

At this point, one of the pursuers started to have a seizure, which he related to the stress of the incident, and the other pursuer helped him back to the store.

But the locator device of the stolen iPhone indicated the phone was in the area of 249 Ludlowe St. Police at the scene located a boy who matched the description of the thief, and the victims confirmed it.

The boy was patted down, and police found on him what they described as a folding, silver and black colored "lock blade razor knife."

The juvenile was charged with first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery.