Man Busted After Swiped Laptop Keeps Taking His Photo

An Oakland man has been reunited with his stolen laptop thanks to an app that took pictures of the slack-jawed suspected thief and captured his email address. Joshua Kaufman started a blog—This Guy Has My MacBook—after police told him that they couldn't follow up the case because of a lack of resources. Media attention spurred them to reopen the case, and the suspect has been arrested on suspicion of possessing stolen goods, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

The app, called "Hidden," tracked the laptop's location as well as capturing photos of the suspect driving, sleeping, and peering shirtless at the screen. A police spokeswoman hailed Kaufman's efforts. "The diligence of Mr. Kaufman is exactly what we need—people who are engaged and are making an effort to reduce crime," she said, predicting that the same software will help recover many more stolen laptops. (More laptop stories.)