14 DAY TRIAL // Sometimes it’s better to take matters into your own hands. This is what a group of festival-goers from Coachella learned after they noticed that their smartphones were stolen. Reinaldo De Jesus Henao from New York stole 100 phones during Coachella, some of which were iPhones.
A group of people who noticed that their iPhones were missing used the Find My iPhone app and the associated iCloud service to locate their devices. They indeed managed to track their smartphones to Reinaldo De Jesus Henao, who carried a backpack with more than 100 stolen smartphones running on iOS and Android.
A report reveals that Indio Police Department public information officer Sergeant Dan Marshall stated that "enough people pinpointed it to this person, they notified security, they looked around, they saw a person with a backpack, they detained him and then they called us. When we got there, we discovered these hundred-plus cellphones in his backpack."
Some of the phones were returned to their rightful owner
The fact that many people pointed towards the man was enough for security to detain him and wait for the police to arrive and search his backpack. The man was ultimately arrested and charged with possession of stolen property and grand theft.
Some of the stolen smartphones were returned to their owners a few hours later, but most of them were turned over to Coachella’s Lost and Found service, waiting to be picked up by their owners.
Apple’s Find My iPhone app helps owners track their iPhones, provided that the app is enabled on their devices. The app allows users to see their missing device on a map, play a sound to help find it or use the Lost Mode to lock and track it, as well as remotely erase all personal information. Google’s Android Device Manager works roughly the same way, allowing owners of Android smartphones to find the exact location of their devices and retrieve them in case of loss or theft.