ANCHORAGE — Two people were found and arrested by Anchorage police Tuesday evening after a robbery victim tracked his stolen smartphone to their location.
In a release Wednesday, police said they received a call around 8 p.m. from an Eagle River resident who had been robbed at gunpoint after taking money from a gas station ATM.
After withdrawing the money, the victim reported to police that he had been followed to his home by two sport utility vehicles. The suspects took the victim’s iPhone and money, according to police spokeswoman Jennifer Castro.
Using the iPhone tracking app, the victim located his phone and alerted police, who found the suspects at a Muldoon Road Tesoro gas station, Castro explained. The victim also provided a description of the suspects.
“If you know people are incoming on the Glenn, that can obviously direct you,” Castro said, explaining how police found the suspects. “At some point, they’re going to get off somewhere on one of these nearby exits so when we have our patrol units in those areas we can say, ‘hey, heads up, we’ve got these two suspect vehicles.'”
After detaining the occupants of the vehicle, police arrested and charged two people — 27-year-old Kyon Watson and 23-year-old Carlton Tarkington — with first-degree robbery.
The video above was captured by an Anchorage resident who witnessed the arrest.
Both men are being held at the Anchorage Correctional Complex under bails of $25,000 with a third-party custodian requirement.
“This robbery remains under investigation and additional charges could be made,” police said.
Castro called the robbery a crime of opportunity, a “really rare situation.” She said the victim wasn’t hurt, and handled the situation well.
“Comply with their demands,” she recommended. “It’s just money. It’s just cash. Give it to them and let them go and contact police, and so the victim did the right thing in this situation.”
She said the victim was able to help police by taking note of his surroundings, and descriptions of the suspects and their vehicles.
KTVA 11’s Bonney Bowman contributed to this report.
The post Police: Eagle River resident robbed at gunpoint helps find thieves using ‘Find My iPhone’ feature appeared first on KTVA 11.
