Arizona teen's mobile shops him to cops

Rings 911 while owner boasts of theft

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Mobile, 7th April 2009 13:32 GMT

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An Arizona teen was cuffed after his mobile phone rang the police while he was boasting about the theft of a car stereo, the Phoenix New Times reports.

The unnamed 16-year-old, from Peoria, was recorded "bragging to his homies" by local law enforcement operatives, who heard him say of the stereo: "It was bolted down - I had to rip it out. It took all my energy to lift it out of the car."

Police used signal triangulation to roughly locate the loudmouthed youth, and a squad car subsequently "found the kid with a stolen car stereo in his hands", according to spokesman Mike Tellef.

Tellef explained that the young scallywag was "released to the custody of his parents or guardian and written up for felony vehicle burglary, which will be prosecuted in juvenile court".

What's not clear is exactly how the perp's crime-busting phone came to alert the authorities in the first place. The Phoenix New Times suggests it may have been a one-touch button programmed to dial 911, or simply a case of very bad accidental multiple-button-pushing luck.

For the record, the device in question "may be a stolen Cricket phone". On the recording, the lad's chums are heard "lamenting that it's not a BlackBerry". Bless. ®