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Cops: Robbers tracked with iPhone app hid phones in chip bags
[June 01, 2012]

Cops: Robbers tracked with iPhone app hid phones in chip bags


Jun 01, 2012 (Chicago Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- West Side police used an iPhone app to track down two men who robbed five people of their cell phones and cash early Thursday, then found the iPhones in bags of potato chips at the gas station where the men were arrested.



Terrance Conway, 25, and Tiquell Harris, 22, face armed robbery charges in the attacks, one at 1 a.m. Thursday in the 2300 block of West Iowa Street, the other 15 minutes later in the 2100 block of West Iowa, police said in a news release. In a bond hearing today, Cook County Criminal Court Judge James Brown set bail for Conway at $150,000 and bail for Harris at $125,000.

A man, 34, and a woman, 22, were walking home in the 2300 block of West Iowa about 1 a.m. Thursday when two men came up to them and announced a robbery, according to police. The robbers made off with the woman's iPhone and a purse containing cash and makeup, as well as the man's cell phone, cash and credit cards, according to police reports.


Just 15 minutes later, two men went up to three men, ages 30, 33, and 38, as they tried to get into a car. The robbers stole more than $120 from the men, as well as cell phones--including one man's iPhone--wallets and credit cards from the three men and fled, according to police reports.

Using the Find My iPhone GPS tracking app, Wood District officers figured out the location of iPhones stolen in the robberies and went to a gas station in the 4200 block of West Chicago Avenue, police said. The officers saw a black 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix parked with no one in it, near the gas pumps.

When the officers went into the gas station, they saw two men try to hide by ducking down between the aisles of merchandise. The two men matched the description of the robbers, and the officers arrested them, police said.

After the arrests, the officers searched the aisle and found the stolen iPhones in bags of potato chips.

Victims later identified Conway, of the 3000 block of West Walnut Street, and Harris, of the 100 block of East Lake Street, Elmhurst, as the robbers, and they were charged with armed robbery, police said.

Conway and Harris were scheduled to appear in Criminal Court Branch 44 on June 7.

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