Police Use iOS App to Track Suspect After ‘Accidentally’ Dropping a Phone in His Truck

Sheriff’s deputies in Colorado tracked down and arrested a man using Apple’s Find My iOS app, claiming that an officer had “lost” his work phone in the bed of the man’s truck after the suspect fled the scene. The unique case could serve as a constitutional test of warrantless location tracking.
The Weld County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release that Deputy Travis Peck pulled over Steven Sandoval at 1:15 a.m. local time, pursuant to a suspicious person report. Peck identified Sandoval, 51, who was wanted for failure to appear in court and flight to avoid prosecution, by pulling up mugshots on a “county-issued” phone. While trying to persuade Sandoval to get out of the car, according to the release, Peck left the phone on the rail of the truck bed in order to retrieve his handcuffs. The phone allegedly fell into the truck as Sandoval sped off.
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