Kenneth Schmidgall’s dedication to his iPhone is nothing to play with. When his phone came up missing, rather than file a claim to get a replacement, he tracked down the suspected thief and beat him up.
The San Diego resident and his roommate, freelance news photographer, Greg Torkelson, tracked down the device using the “Find My iPhone” app, which led them to a man whose movements matched that of the dots on the iPhone tracker. The alleged thief was confronted on Torrey Pines State Beach, and blessed with an embarrassing fade that will hopefully make him think twice about stealing phones. “I wasn’t looking for a confrontation, I just wanted my phone back,” Schmidgall told the Huffington Post.
The altercation was caught on video and shows Schmidgall and the man going toe-to-toe in a battle that involved a few wobbly punches, a headlock, and pepper spray. The thief was later held down by an off-duty cop until police came.
Even though his iPhone was an older model, the retaliation was more about principal. “It’s not the phone that’s so much important,” the 26-year-old construction worker said. “It’s that people get away with this kind of stuff all the time with cellphones being stolen.”
As for the man who was beaten up and put in a stronghold as snot ran out of his nose (possibly due to the pepper spray), Torkelson hopes he’s learned a lesson. “Hopefully he won’t try this again, and anybody else out there that’s seen the video or is watching the segment will also think twice before stealing somebody’s phone.”
In related news, Apple is said to testing software for the iPhone 6. Thieves beware.
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Photo: MSN
