Detectives used an iPhone app to find a Brooklyn man and two others allegedly connected to an armed robbery in Ridgewood last week, prosecutors said.
Law enforcement sources said that Tirell Ryant, 25, of Brooklyn allegedly robbed two men at gunpoint in front of a location on Woodward Avenue between Cornelia Street and 68th Road at around 6:26 p.m. on Sept. 21.
According to information provided by the Queens District Attorney’s office, Ryant arrived at the scene in a red Lincoln, then approached the three victims, pulled out a handgun and demanded their property. He removed the victims’ cellphones, including an iPhone 6 and a Samsung Galaxy S7, as well as their wallets and cash, then fled the scene in an unknown direction.
Officers from the 104th Precinct responded to the incident about a half-hour later; neither of the victims were injured.
Police then were able to track stolen iPhone through the “Find My iPhone” app and located it in the area of Lewis and Vernon avenues in Brooklyn. The officers subsequently went to the location at 8 p.m. on Sept. 21 and found Ryant along with two others — Justin Hoffman, 31, of 88th Street in Woodhaven and Marquis Marrow, 26, of Brooklyn — using a marijuana joint while sitting in a parked truck.
Prosecutors said the officers approached the vehicle and recovered the stolen cellphones. Ryant, Hoffman and Marrow were taken into custody and charged with robbery and weapons possession.
