An alleged iPhone thief was caught Tuesday after he changed the phone's registration to his own name, police said.
The 22-year-old robbery victim told police he fell asleep while riding the No. 1 train downtown from the 116th Street station at about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday. He woke up before he got to the 66th Street station and noticed his iPhone was missing.
The victim went to the 6th Precinct to report his phone missing, and investigators there tracked the phone, using the Find My iPhone app, to the area of East 107th Street and Madison Avenue, police said.
The iPhone registration name had been changed to that of the accused thief, police said. Investigators ran the name in their database, and located a criminal record and photo for him.
The sergeant, three other police officers and the victim proceeded to the area of the signal, went inside the six-story residential building and found the suspect sleeping in the third-floor hallway, police said.
Joseph Outley, 18, of the Bronx, was taken into custody at about 7:30 a.m. and was charged with trespassing, criminal possession of stolen property and grand larceny. Attorney information wasn't available.
Last month, police officers located a suspect accused of assaulting his wife and running off with their toddler daughter using the Find My iPhone app. In February, they were able to locate another accused thief using the app.
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