NH woman tracks down stolen iPhone using app

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Police say a woman tracked down her stolen iPhone by using an app, leading to an arrest.

“We received a call from a woman who stated her purse had been stolen earlier in the day while she was shopping at a nearby supermarket in a neighboring town. She stated that her iPhone was inside the purse,” said Maureen Tessier of the Manchester Police Department.

Once the woman, 30, got home, she pinged the iPhone’s GPS location and she was able to trace the phone and the suspected purse thief to a Walmart in Manchester using an iPhone app. She called police and headed to the store.

Inside the store the woman spotted the suspect, 37-year-old Loretta Costa, who had been lurking by the woman’s cart in the grocery store earlier in the day. The woman grabbed security and followed Costa through checkout to the parking lot when police arrived.

“The officer called out to the woman to stop, but instead she hurried towards her vehicle, emptied her carriage into her vehicle and then got into it herself,” said Tessier.

Costa locked herself in her car and rammed the car in front of her and the cruiser behind her.

“The officer…had to shatter the window to gain entry to the car and ultimately control the car and the person,” said Tessier.

Officers recovered the missing iPhone, wallet and the purse, as well as a number of other items that were purchased with the victim’s credit cards, from the car.

Costa was charged with reckless conduct, receiving stolen property, and other charges.

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