Teen’s ‘selfie’ lands him in jail

A teenager who allegedly stole a wallet and a cellphone from two tourists was identified and arrested after he took self-portraits or “selfies” with the phone, not knowing it had an application that allowed the owner to track and access its contents remotely.

Carl Steve Coronel Aldan, 18, was arrested on Friday in San Antonio for theft.

Police said the suspect denied stealing any iPhones from Saipan World Resort, claiming that a friend who was with him at the hotel sold him an iPhone.

At yesterday’s initial appearance hearing, Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho imposed a $5,000 cash bail and set the preliminary hearing for Oct. 2 at 9am.

Assistant public defender Cindy Nebit was appointed as counsel for Aldan. Assistant attorney general Shannon Foley appeared for the government.

Police detective Daniel Maliuyaf stated in his report that two Korean male tourists went swimming last Aug. 30, leaving their belongings under one of the umbrellas at Saipan World Resort.

When the two got out of the pool, they discovered that their wallets containing $246 in cash and an iPhone 5—with a total value of $1,050—were missing.

Maliuyaf said that World Resort human resource manager Miriam Seman met with a police detective last Sept. 10, to follow up on the case.

Seman told the detective that the victims emailed them pictures of the suspect that the latter allegedly took from the stolen phone.

The victim’s iPhone has Apple iCloud that features Find My Phone, which enables users to track, access, and edit the contents of phones, iPad, or Mac remotely.

Maliuyaf said he learned from a hotel staff that Aldan, the son of a Corrections officer and is always seen at the hotel, was the same person in the photos.

Aldan’s photo on Facebook was also then turned over to HR manager Seman.

The hotel resort’s sales marketing manager disclosed that he received an email from their office in Korea containing photos of Aldan.

The sales marketing manager learned that the person who stole the iPhone took selfies, not knowing that the phone is connected to the victim’s Apple iCloud account.

After seeing Aldan’s photos, the victim emailed them to World Resort, police said. The court then issued an arrest warrant for Aldan.