Rutgers Student Uses iPhone App to Help Catch Carjacker

A Newark man who was identified by the “Find My iPhone” app on a cell phone he stole during an armed carjacking was sentenced to 135 months in prison on Monday.

According to court documents, Lee Caraballo, 28, carjacked a Rutgers law student at gunpoint in the driveway of the student’s home on Nov. 30, 2012.

After stealing the victim’s wallet and cell phone, Caraballo fled in the victim’s Toyota Corolla.

A Roselle Park police officer stopped Caraballo, who was driving his own car, later that day. Law enforcement found the victim’s cell phone and car keys in the car, as well as various items of clothing the victim later identified.

According to prosecutors, while Caraballo was in police custody, the carjacking victim located his phone remotely using the “Find My iPhone” feature and called the police station.

The victim was later able to identify the defendant, stated prosecutors.

Caraballo was convicted of both counts in the indictment against him: theft of a motor vehicle by force, violence and intimidation and use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

A judge sentenced Caraballo to five years of supervised release in addition to the prison term.