'Find my iPhone' led Coachella attendees to a man with 100 stolen phones

Having your phone stolen – much like drinking smuggled-in cans and having to come into uncomfortably close contact with human faeces  – is a pretty ubiquitous part of the festival experience.

And usually, once your stuff has gone: it’s gone. You ain’t getting it back, mate.

But for over 100 Coachella attendees, this wasn’t the case – because they all used Find my iPhone to track down the thief.

According to the Indio Police Department, the fans “activated the app and followed [the thief] around the venue until he was detained”.

“People started using the ‘Find My Phone’ feature on their phones and sure enough—people spotted a dot going through the tent, and they alerted authorities. The police took over from there after security had him detained,” Sergeant Dan Marshal told Gizmodo.

Police later found over 100 phones in his bag and he was promptly arrested. 

The Indio Police Department have a few tips to avoid phone theft, too: not keeping them in back pockets, making sure you don’t keep all your valuables together and “carrying a dummy wallet to fool thieves”.