Winnipeg Robbery Selfie: iPhone App reveals Location

Selfie Pose Proves Guilt of Three Canadian Teens

Thanks to a bit of vanity a crime was solved when the suspect posted a robbery selfie using an iPhone app. Three teenagers were engaged in a brief robbery/assault spree that ended when the Winnipeg police were able to track them down after that “selfie” appeared online.

Their first violent actions began when one of the suspects approached a stranger in an alley. The man was attacked when he refused to hand over his cigarettes. All three teens participated in the brutal attack on this victim.

What they did not realize is that the iPhone they stole had also been equipped with a tracking mechanism. The victim had minor physical injuries but he was determined to recover his stolen property.

The tracking app delivered all of the necessary data that the Winnipeg Police Service needed to identify and locate the suspects. The teens had used the stolen phone to make calls to friends, but the “real break” came when the police looked at the posted selfie that one brash young robber had taken. The photo had been posted directly to the Cloud account of the rightful owner.

Const. Rob Carver said officers were able to track down the attackers using the data.

“So they took a selfie — a guy takes a picture of himself,” said Carver. “The pictures were automatically posted to [the victim’s] Cloud account.”

“I’m pretty sure they didn’t based on the taking of the picture,” said Carver, laughing. “A guy takes a picture of himself and doesn’t realize that if the phone is set up to do that, the picture populates to your account, which can be shown on other devices.”

The last robbery involved a fifteen year old victim. The suspects were soon apprehended, and the iPhone data, phone calls and posted selfie were all the police needed to link the crimes and charge the three teens.

Officers arrested three youths, aged 14, 15 and 16 at 2:30 a.m. and charged them with two counts of robbery with violence.

On The Web:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/selfie-leads-winnipeg-police-to-teen-robbery-suspects-1.2435142