Akram Abdullah
SAN LEANDRO — A smart phone “snitched” on a robbery suspect last weekend, and led San Leandro police officers to a neighborhood in East Oakland, where they located and arrested the suspected thief.
The cell phone was snatched from a man who was walking along West Juana Avenue in San Leandro on October 8 at approximately 9 p.m.
A thief grabbed the phone from a man’s hand, brandished what looked like a handgun, and demanded that victim also hand over his wallet.
The victim told the thief that he wasn’t carrying a wallet; then the thief fled from the scene—taking only the phone with him.
Unbeknownst to the crook—his victim later activated a “lost” beacon on the smart phone, which indicated to police officers precisely where the thief had taken it.
The victim also provided officers with description of the thief, which matched the description given by another person who was also robbed nearby, and the other person also gave the police a description of a getaway car used by the thief.
The phone’s activated beacon led police to the suspected thief’s car parked at residence, shortly before the suspect himself showed up, and he was detained by officers.
Police searched the suspect’s vehicle, where they found the stolen phone, along with a replica firearm. Officers also recovered several other items from the vehicle, which were reported stolen during robberies in nearby neighborhoods.
The suspect 27-year-old Akram Abdullah was arrested at 11:15 p.m. on October 8, on suspicion of first degree robbery, and possession of stolen property. Abdullah was booked the following afternoon at Santa Rita Jail, where he remains in lieu of $100,000 bond.
