Find My iPhone leads to arrest in robbery

Find My iPhone, a service Apple provides to MobileMe subscribers, is certainly paying off for one Pittsburgh-area man. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the man was robbed at gunpoint in the Shadyside area of east Pittsburgh by two men who demanded his credit cards and their PINs.

The local Pittsburgh police reported that the victim, who was not identified, handed over his wallet, PINs, and iPhone to robbers. He later used a computer to locate his iPhone using the MobileMe service, which eventually led the police to the suspects at a local gas station. Officers arrested the two suspects plus another person involved and recovered a pellet gun, stolen ID cards, credit cards, and cash.

The three men were charged with access-device fraud, conspiracy, receiving stolen property, and possessing instruments of crime. The two who reportedly robbed the victim had an additional charge of robbery filed against them.

This incident was not the first time Find My iPhone has been used creatively. David Molnar once used an iPhone to track his girlfriend's belongings on their trek from Chicago to Oakland by packing the device along with other household items in a hired moving truck, then tracking its progress across the U.S.

Have you found an interesting use for Find My iPhone? Tell us all about it in the comments.