Stolen cellphone’s tracker leads police to theft suspect

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — A suspected holdupper was arrested in Barangay Bayabas on Monday morning after police tracked his location using the tracking feature of a stolen cellphone.

The 31-year-old victim reported to the Carmen Police Station that the suspect had robbed him at gunpoint in Phase 2, NHA, Barangay Kauswagan, forcibly taking his bag containing a cellphone worth P29,000, a power bank and an umbrella.

Police operatives conducting a follow-up operation located the suspect walking along the road after activating the cellphone's tracking system.

Authorities recovered the stolen items from the suspect, along with a .38-caliber revolver loaded with three rounds of ammunition.

The suspect was detained at the Maharlika detention center pending the filing of criminal charges before the prosecutor's office.

In a similar incident in June last year, a suspected thief was arrested after an AirPods tracker helped police locate him inside a barber shop at Agora Market.

The victim reported that an unidentified suspect had sneaked into his room at a boarding house and stolen personal belongings, including AirPods, a cellphone and a wallet.

A review of closed-circuit television footage showed the suspect casually entering the boarding house through its gate and leaving with a bag allegedly containing the stolen items.

With the victim's assistance, police activated the AirPods tracker and traced the stolen belongings to the barber shop, where the items were recovered.

The boarding house owner told police he had assumed the suspect was a guest of one of the boarders.