Sunday, July 24, 2016

STOLEN SMARTPHONE’S ‘FIND MY PHONE’ APP LEADS TO SUSPECTS IN BRUTAL LAS VEGAS HOME INVASION

Suspects Jonathan Mika and Dominic Maratita were arrested after the app signal on the iPhone that had been stolen during an early morning home invasion led to an apartment

By Kiri Blakeley

Daily Mail
July 23, 2016

Police were easily able to trace suspects in a brutal home invasion when an iPhone stolen from the house was tracked through its 'Find My iPhone' software.

Two men identified as Jonathan Mika, 34, and Dominic Maratita, 41, of Las Vegas, were arrested after cops were led to an apartment Maratita was renting by following the signal from the 'Find My iPhone' app from a phone stolen from the residence, which pinpointed the suspects' location, according to Review Journal.

The suspects face six counts of robbery with a deadly weapon and six counts of first-degree kidnapping and charge each of burglary while in possession of a gun and possession of stolen property.

The invasion at the house on East Sierra Stone Lane began around 3am on Monday when one family member was playing video games. When the game mysteriously shut off, the person went to reset the Internet modem but discovered the power was off.

When the male family member went outside to check the power box, police say he was confronted by three people with a gun who forced him back inside the house.

The robbers then proceeded to knock down doors to other six family members' bedrooms and pistol whipping some in the head.

One member was pistol whipped so forcefully that he later needed stitches, reported the outlet.

At least one juvenile was in the home.

The family was then tied up and the premises was robbed of six guns, iPhones, at least one laptop and wallets, credit cards and IDs.

When the stolen iPhone signal led to Maratita's home, Mika was found sitting outside the residence in a car that matched the description of the vehicle seen on the family's neighbor's home surveillance video during the time of the invasion, say police.

All items taken in the home invasion were recovered in the suspect's home, according to cops.

While Maratita denied ever being in the home, Mika reportedly told cops that he 'was homeless and trying to put a roof over his head.'

He also reportedly claimed that his role in the incident was to make sure no one got shot.

A third suspect that police believe acted as a lookout has not yet been found.

The pair are due in court August 8 and are being held without bail.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Smartphone, dumb crooks!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You don't even have to have find my phone app. If you have a smart phone, I can find you. If you take a pic with a cell phone, I can find the location. If you have a contract with a cell phone company, I can find you. If you cannot remove the battery from your phone, I can find you.

A $14.99 no contract burner phone is the only way around being located. Then each time it is used it should be thrown in a dumpster or taped to a 18 wheeler. Once you call a relative or co-conspirator being monitored by LE with a burner phone they have the number.

If you don't want to be tracked, do not use a cell phone, steal a car with GPS or use a credit/debit card. Use cash preferably in small denominations and don't drive on a toll road. Facial recognition software can scan your face through a windshield.

BarkGrowlBite said...

Thank you so much, Anon, for giving us criminals a heads-up!