Find-My-Phone Vigilante Justice Sweeps Nation

Cellphone theft is on the rise, phone manufacturers won’t do anything because well, replacing cellphones is kind of their thing, the police don’t really care because it’s so common and in many places it’s only a misdemeanor. THE PEOPLE ARE FINDING THEIR PHONES FOR THEMSELVES, and the Times is on it.

This is clearly the best one:

After Nadav Nirenberg lost his iPhone on New Year’s Eve in 2012, he realized someone was sending messages from his OkCupid account. He lured the thief to his Brooklyn apartment building by posing as a woman and flirting with him on the dating service.

When the thief arrived with a bottle of wine, expecting to meet “Jennifer,” Mr. Nirenberg went up behind him, hammer at his side. He slapped a $20 bill on the thief, to mollify him and compensate him for his time and wine, and demanded the phone. The thief handed it over and slunk away.

“I was trying to avoid conflict,” Mr. Nirenberg said.

And as far as Risk My Life To Find My Phone anecdotes go, this ending NAILS IT:

She knocked on the door. It swung open, revealing a large man, about 30 years old. “I think you have my phone,” Ms. Maguire said haltingly, as she later recounted the conversation. The man denied this. But she pressed him, insisting that GPS had led her to that address.

The man ducked back inside. The blinds in the living room, which had been open when she arrived, slowly closed.

Finally, he returned with one phone, then — after more negotiation — with the second. Unsure if the danger was over, Ms. Maguire sprinted to her car.

Still, when she was asked by text message if she would pursue a future pickpocket, she typed an unequivocal reply on her recovered phone: “Yes, def.”

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