Cell phone app leads to arrests

2:01 p.m., May 24, 2011--Newark Police are crediting a mobile phone application with leading them to the location of four suspects in an armed robbery that occurred Saturday, May 21, in Newark.

Around 2:20 a.m., a group of 15 people was at a small party in a detached garage on Annabelle Street when four men entered. They closed the garage doors, and one of the men, later identified as Joseph Thomas, displayed a handgun. The defendants forced 10 of the victims to turn over property, including wallets, cell phones and cash. One person was repeatedly punched and kicked by the men after he failed to turn over property. The four men then fled the garage on foot.  None of the victims, all college age, was seriously injured during the incident. 

FYI Stories

June 6: UDid It! Picnic

All UD faculty and staff members are invited to attend the annual UDid It! employee appreciation picnic, set from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Monday, June 6, on The Green.

2FA protects you

If you are using two-factor authentication (2FA), even if a hacker has your password, your information is probably safe.

• 2FA protects you
• Police training
• Traffic alert
• Library photo ID

Responding officers learned that one of the stolen phones was equipped with a GPS tracking device. Using computer software, officers were able to track the movement of the phone, and the four men were located travelling in a vehicle in the University Plaza Shopping Center. All four were taken into custody without incident. Stolen items, including the GPS equipped phone, were found in the vehicle, as well as a loaded .38 caliber handgun used during the robbery. 

Officers determined that the men in custody and their vehicle matched the description of a carjacking incident several hours earlier in New Castle County Police jurisdiction, and they were later linked to that crime.

Charged with 10 counts of first degree robbery, 15 counts of unlawful imprisonment, 15 counts of aggravated menacing, 15 counts of second degree conspiracy and one  count of offensive touching were Thomas, 19, of Bear; Matthew A. Travers, 19, of Middletown; Brett A. Chattin, 19, of Bear; and a 17-year-old juvenile from Wilmington. Thomas also was charged with one count of carrying a concealed deadly weapon and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. 

Thomas, Travers and Chattin were committed to the Howard R. Young Correctional Facility on secured bond, and the juvenile was committed to the New Castle County Detention Center on secured bond.