Cops Track Down Suspect In Queens Domestic Dispute Using iPhone App
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Officers in Queens used an iPhone app Wednesday to track down a city worker who allegedly ran off with his 1-year-old daughter after assaulting his wife, police said.
Around 6 p.m., officers were called to a Woodside apartment about a domestic dispute.
A woman told them her husband, 30-year-old Alex Torres – who works for the Department of Education, choked her following a verbal dispute and then ran off with their young daughter.
Lt. James Lombardi asked the woman what type of phone her husband was carrying to see if they could track him.
The victim told police Torres had an iPhone and then gave them his iTunes account information which officers plugged in to the "Find My iPhone" application.
Torres apparently had his phone turned off at first, but Sgt. Peter Cassiere was persistent and kept plugging the information in until he got a hit in Brooklyn.
Police were able to track Torres' movements from Brooklyn to Manhattan until he was found with the child around 9:15 p.m. on East 15th Street.
He was placed under arrest while Police Officer Maritza Mendez, realizing it had been several hours since the baby had been fed or changed, went to a CVS store to buy diapers and food.
The child was taken to Wyckoff Hospital for evaluation.
Torres has been charged with third-degree assault, strangulation and endangering the welfare of a child.
