Gadget Guru Homeowner Nabs Suspect Through GPS Tracking In OKC

A burglary victim, who happens to be a techie helps catch the person suspected of stealing from him.

On Monday, Terry Jackson's home was broken into and got cleaned out. The thief took Jackson's son's iPad, an iMac computer, two Macbook laptops and two video game systems belonging to his children.

All his apple devices have the "find my iPhone" feature on them. It also helps Jackson, who is a computer repairman, to keep track of them through GPS. Jackson's son was the first to point out the feature to his dad.

"As we are going back to the house, my son is saying my iPad is not at the house," says Jackson.

The family called police and was able to lead them to a home about a mile away where they suspected their stolen electronics were being kept.

The homeowner denied them access inside, but fortunately for Terry that home had WiFi. That means his son's iPad would produce an audible ping with a command sent by Terry's iPhone, which wasn't stolen.

"The lady is sitting there baring entry and we are hearing ‘ping ping ping.' They (police) hear it because it was sitting on their coffee table," says Jackson.

The ping meant probable cause to enter the home. Once inside police found Terry's computers and other devices.

Terry was able to prove on the spot that all the devices belonged to his family because he had registered all the serial numbers with Apple, and had access to them with his iPhone.

"I feel a little bit like a crime fighter," says Jackson.

Police have arrested 21-year-old DeCorey Sadler for the burglary. Investigators say they found items taken from other burglaries also in the home.