Apple iPhone tracking app sends police to same Las Vegas man
Updated Jan. 16 at 3:58 p.m. ET
Wayne Dobson has people reportedly knocking on his door around the clock claiming that he has their stolen Apple iPhones. The problem is that the Las Vegas resident claims he doesn't have any of them.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that for the past two years, strangers have repeatedly showed up at the 59-year-old retiree's house, accusing him of having their iPhones and calling the police to investigate.
Dobson has so many people coming to his house that he has a sign hanging next to his door that reads "No lost cell phones."
It appears that victims of iPhone thefts that use a tracking app to find the assumed perpetrator of the crime. However, many of them in the Las Vegas area are being misdirected.
It's not just victims of lost iPhones that have been wrongly directed. According to the Review-Journal police have been dispatched to Dobson's house twice to respond to domestic violence calls.
The problem seems to be with the phones' GPS or how the locations are "triangulated," the Review-Journal reports. Dobson was told by a local technician that cellphone GPS systems are not precise. And in this case, Dobson's house has become a default location for that area.
It appears the issue is mainly with Sprint phones, the Review-Journal reports. But a spokesperson for Sprint told CBSNews.com that it wasn't to blame and released this statement:
Sprint has researched this matter and has determined it is not related to a "glitch" or issue with Sprint's network or systems. It is a rare occurrence which is unfortunately affecting Mr. Dobson. This problem is apparently caused by the fact that Mr. Dobson's home happens to be in the center of a geometric circle denoting the coverage area of one sector of a Sprint cell site. This information would be provided as a result of a location-based search when a more precise location of a device is not readily available. Location search results in cases like this are intended to be interpreted as anywhere within a several-hundred-meter-wide circular area - not the center point of the circle itself. We sincerely regret the inconvenience experienced by Mr. Dobson.
In the meantime, there is no rest for Dobson.
