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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Sirens & Gavels

Find stolen property? There’s an app for that

OAK CREEK, Wis. (AP) — A Wauwatosa man whose iPhone was stolen from his car used GPS to track it down.

Tiernan Paine left a $400 phone in his unlocked car while at Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Oak Creek on Thursday night.

The 28-year-old subscribes to MobileMe, a service that synchronizes data between his phone and home computer. It also includes a global positioning system.

Paine told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he pinpointed his phone's location and saw a picture of the suspect's home.

Paine took the material to Oak Creek police. The next day, he and another church member who also had a phone stolen that night had their phones back.

Police Chief Tom Bauer says the suspect confessed to about six thefts from parked cars.



David Wasson oversees coverage of politics and state and local government and assists with editing on the City Desk.

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