Teen with iPhone app helps cops nab burglary suspect

A 14-year-old Seattle boy used an iPhone app to help police track down a burglary suspect and recovery thousands of dollars in stolen electronic equipment, including his mother's missing cellphone, The Seattle Times reports.

The newspaper says an officer "quarterbacked" the operation from Max Malkin's kitchen. As the teen tracked the suspect on the GPS-driven "Find My iPhone" app on his laptop, the officer communicated with police on the street until they spotted a potential suspect at a McDonald's.

Police followed the suspect, who was carrying a hefty duffel bag, to a bus tunnel, while Malkin followed his journey on his laptop.

At that point, a police report says, the officer asked Max to call his mother's stolen iPhone. When it rang, the suspect pulled the phone from his pocket and police closed in.

"When the phone rang," Malkin's father, Heraold, told The Times, "the guy kind of knew the jig was up."

The whole operation lasted only about 15 minutes, The Times says.

Officers arrested the 20-year-old suspect early Saturday and recovered $4,000 worth of stolen electronics, the newspaper reports.

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