Subang Man Tracks Down Robbers In 1 Hour With 'Find My' App After Car Is Broken Into
The victim said he found the culprits casually having a meal at a kopitiam.
By May Vin Ang — 21 Feb 2023, 04:43 PM
A robbery victim from Subang Jaya, Selangor, impressively managed to track down the culprits who stole his belongings by using an app to track the valuables on his phone
Facebook user Arvin Tharan took to community group USJ Community to share his story on 29 January in hope that it would help others.
"My car got broken into on 18 January at SS14," he wrote in the Facebook post.
"[However, I] managed to track down the robbers who were located at Sri Petaling within an hour using Apple's 'Find My' app."
"Tracked them down within an hour while they were happily chilling at a kopitiam (coffeeshop)."
He explained that he managed to track the perpetrators because they stole his MacBook Pro, an iPad, and an Apple Watch, which are all able to be tracked as long as their batteries are charged.
The victim explained that he had just finished eating at a restaurant in SS14 when he realised that his car's left rear window was broken into
It was about 9.10pm when he saw that the bag with all of his valuables that he left in his car was missing.
Arvin said it took him a moment to digest the situation before he went around looking for closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras that could have caught what had happened, but there were none pointing at his car.
He took out his phone to use the 'Find My' app to lock all of his Apple devices and saw that the tracking app was showing their location — somewhere about 20 minutes away in Sri Petaling.
"I drove to the nearest police station to lodge a report and requested for immediate help as I could still track them," he wrote in a photo caption of the incident.
Arvin tracked the robbers down to a local coffeeshop in Sri Petaling, where the police advised him to enter first as to not bring attention to themselves
"Upon reaching the location, the cops advised me to look for these guys myself as the thieves might spot them, so I acted like I was looking for food to buy," he said.
"I finally found the guy with my watch, and to make sure it was mine, I approached them really closely and acted like I was making an order near where they were sitting."
Narrowing it down to two men, Arvin said he went out of the shop to call the police, who were dressed in plain clothes, to check and arrest the men.
He added that the culprits had multiple records, with one of them being involved in up to 16 previous car break-ins.
The Facebook user's post has since garnered over 1,400 shares and 1,800 likes, with netizens saluting him for the quick thinking and apt use of technology
"Wow, you are very calm. The police also did a great job. Thank you for sharing this experience," said a Facebook user.
Another predicted that Apple's AirTag sales will increase after reading this story, saying, "Thanks for sharing the story, at least if anyone got mugged after this, they know what to do rather than just panic and cry. Kudos to you for handling it like a champ and the police for the fast response."
Meanwhile, several other users cautioned others against leaving their valuables in the car in the first place.
"Nicely done. Just like in the movies. Your heart must be pounding like crazy when you were closer to them. But just for safety, I wouldn't have left my valuables in the car," they said.
Read Arvin's full post here.
