iPad tracking app helps nab theft suspect

An Amityville woman used a tracking application for the iPad to help police locate and arrest a man accused of stealing the device from a car parked in her driveway, police said.

In an account corroborated by Amityville police, Krystal Lynch, 26, said she called 911 at 10:30 p.m. on Feb. 25 after she saw a man running from the car on Bayview Avenue and discovered the device -- which belongs to her cousin, Julianna Maldonado -- was missing.

Man and machine seemed to have disappeared. But when Lynch opened the tracking application minutes later, using a desktop computer, a dot representing the device's position on a street map showed it was nearby -- and moving.

"It was hovering," Lynch said. "Then the dot started moving faster."

Soon, Lynch helped direct a chase that involved officers from Amityville and Suffolk police departments, as the dot -- man and machine -- moved from New York Avenue to Wellwood Avenue and Sunrise Highway.

"I could hear the cops on dispatch talking," Lynch said. "They were saying they were chasing him over fences."

Then, she said, she heard an officer say "We got him."

Suffolk police arrested Vemond Small in North Lindenhurst, about 40 minutes after the iPad was reported stolen and charged him with three counts of possession of stolen property.

Lynch said Amityville police told her the iPad will soon be returned.