Stolen iPad app leads police to major Seattle theft ring

The search for a stolen iPad helped Seattle Police uncover a major stolen property trafficking operation after the victim used an app to track it to a Capitol Hill home.

Seattle Police say the victim arrived at work last Friday to discover his business had been burglarized and discovered his iPad was taken in the robbery.

Using an app on his smartphone, he was able to track it to a house at 12th Avenue East and East Mercer Street, and called 911 to report it, according to Seattle Police spokesman Mark Jamieson.

The cops arrived and accompanied the victim as he knocked on the door of the house, which served as both a residence and a computer repair shop.

Officers could see a number of computers inside the shop, and when the victim activated the tracking app, it set off a sound they could hear leading them to the stolen device.

After the victim positively identified it, the suspect claimed he bought it from someone online, but couldn’t provide any proof.

Detectives responding to the scene immediately recognized the suspect and location as being involved in the trafficking of stolen property.

Detectives searching the home found a number of stolen computers and computer parts in the basement, shed, and garage. They also found high-end bicycles, liquor bottles, Rolex watches and methamphetamines inside the home, according to Jamieson.

Police arrested the 41-year-old suspect and booked him into the King County Jail for Investigation of Possession of Stolen Property. Detectives say it’ll take some time to sort through all of the stolen possession believed to be taken in a number of robberies.