By Richard Leitner, News Staff
Credit Dan Clark with a big assist in catching the person who tried to sell his son’s iPhone to an undercover police officer after it was stolen from a hockey dressing room at Morgan Firestone Arena.
Clark’s 14-year-old son, Andy, was in town with the Guelph Junior Storm bantam team on Monday and among half a dozen players whose cell phones were swiped while they faced off against Ancaster.
The persistent dad reported the theft to Hamilton police that night and took an officer’s advice to keep an eye out for his son’s phone on free on-line classified advertising sites.
Sure enough, he spotted what looked like his son’s iPhone on Kijiji on Wednesday morning. The seller wanted $350 for the $550 phone and the two arranged to meet in the lobby of a Canon Street East apartment building that afternoon.
“I said to him, ‘Some iPhones when they first came out had antennae problems’ and led him to believe you could tell by the serial number,” Clark said.
“He popped it open and gave me the serial number and I said, ‘Ah, yup, that’s one of the ones that’s defective, so I’m not interested.’”
Clark left and went to Central Station to report what had just transpired and an undercover cop arranged to meet with the seller that evening to make the arrest.
Police seized more electronic devices they believe were stolen during a subsequent search of the suspect’s apartment.
Clark said he realizes some might see his actions as risky, but he felt safe because he met the seller in a public place, even if he does wonder how his request for the serial number didn’t raise red flags.
He said the suspect told him he and his girlfriend were selling their iPhones because they wanted to switch to Android phones. As for the lack of any accessories, he claimed that they’d just moved but he could look for them.
“When I met him I just wanted to identify the phone. My intentions never were to intervene because I know the risk that could be involved there,” said Clark, who praises both police and the city’s parks and recreation staff for their response to the thefts.
“I was really bothered that there was that large group of boys that were really devastated,” he said. “The way teens are today, that’s their lifeline to the world and they really felt violated.”
Clark said the incident offers a “bunch of lessons for everyone,” including the need to lock dressing rooms and post signs warning players not to leave valuables there.
Parents, coaches and players can also help by designating someone to safeguard phones and other items, he said.
A 23-year-old Hamilton man is charged with possession of stolen goods under $5,000.
