‘Your phone told on you’: Troopers catch hit-and-run suspect in Florida — thanks to his iPhone

By Jack Royer, Rubén Rosario

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    LEESBURG, Florida (WSVN) — You can run, and you can hide — but you can’t hide from your phone.

A man was busted in Central Florida after leaving the scene of a crash, and investigators said it was all thanks to his iPhone.

Yashia Lucien said she witnessed the crash.

“Your phone told on you, it snitched on you,” she said.

Jerome Williams is facing a charge of hit-and-run involving property damage after, the Florida Highway Patrol said, the 28-year-old got into a crash and ran off in the early hours of April 27.

“He took off running down the street, the cops caught him,” said witness.

FHP troopers said the crash happened along Sunnyside Drive in Leesburg.

According to an arrest report, Williams smashed into a retaining wall on someone’s property, then took off.

As for what led troopers straight to the driver, the report states his phone automatically called 911 after detecting the crash.

The recording says, “The owner of this iPhone was in a severe car crash and is not responding to their phone.”

Technology expert Kevin Drinan, chief information officer of Cutting Edge Technologies, said the feature comes standard in newer iPhones, and it works within seconds.

“It’s turned on by default, so by the time you actually get the alert, it takes about 10 seconds for it to turn on,” he said, “and then from there, if you do not respond to your watch or your phone, what happens is, within 30 seconds, it’ll actually dial emergency services for you.”

In just moments, troopers were dispatched to the incident and located Williams within minutes. He was arrested and later released after posting bond.

Drinan predicts the same technology could help solve more hit-and-run cases in the future.

“They have the capability to record these sessions, and of course, it’s cellular, so they’ll be able to track it,” he said. “So, obviously, emergency services is going to have the upper hand to respond the soonest.”

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