Used cell phone surprises

BTW, the tires that got slashed weren't in Indiana.  This guy lives out of state.

 Bard, I also would feel somewhat impelled to report my findings, the right thing as a Human..

Where would that stand in each individuals life..

Remember...  

Only 'You' Can Prevent Forest Fires..

Everyone has the moral obligation to report crimes.

We now live in a society where many people have no morals, sorry to say that, but you all know it is true, and it gets worse everyday!

I think it should be reported, why not take it to the police station with the information you have about where who you purchased it from, then let them decide if anyhing further should be done.

First of all, this guy's either a numbskull or baiting you. (My vote's on the numbskull).  Who in their right mind ever turns off a cell for the last time without deleting everything and trashing the external memory chip, if any? He's begging to be caught.

Just remember, he knows where you live, unless you had it delivered to PO Box.

That being said, I'd file a report and let the authorities pass along the info to the locals where he lives. Maybe they did indeed have some tires slashed, but what will happen to the guy if they catch him? (Restitution and MAYBE some probie time?) If they do catch him one of them is going to rub his nose in the fact he left the info on an old cell phone. (Numbskulls sometimes can put 2 and 2 together).

Your risk, your decision. You could just hit delete and fuhgettaboudit!

And you could lose the cell phone you just bought.  They might need to confiscate it as evidence.  :(

 

Yup!

Yeah, they'd probably need the cell phone as evidence.  I doubt I'd ever see it again, and who would reimburse me for the loss?  This didn't 'allegedly' take place in Indiana, but in a far western state.  And the comment was something along the lines of 'what were we thinking when we slashed the cop's tires - we will NEVER do that again!' kind of thing.  So for all I know, they may have been caught and punished already.

And yeah, the guy does know where I live.

But it does bring up some good questions of personal responsibility. I wonder what the law actually says about alleged evidence on used cell phones you happen to fall into possession of.  Who would know for sure but judges, police and lawyers - and it's possible even they know little about it.

I tried to Google something on it, but all I found was something that spoke directly to Palehorse's comments:

"During the investigation of a burglary at a home in Pinhole California, officers heard a cellphone ring. On the other end a man asks "Hey, did you find my phone?"

"Realizing that this might be a cellphone accidentally left at the scene by the burglar, Officer Uri Nieves played along and offered to return the phone at a local Boys and Girls Club. Criminal mastermind Antony Ramirez arrived at the scene at the predetermined time in a stolen Nissan 350Z and was promptly swarmed by police, but he managed to flee the scene on foot. Later, the police discovered that Ramirez was also wanted for a shooting death last year.

"The police eventually caught up with him thanks to the fact that Ramirez was unable to put 2 and 2 together regarding the cellphone drop-off. He continued to text message the phone in an attempt to arrange a meeting to get it back. Unfortunately for us, the reports fail to mention what brand of cellphone was so damn important that a wanted murderer was willing to stick his neck out to get it back. Needless to say, even a solid gold iPhone wouldn't be worth it. [SFGate]"

Are you able to remove the memory card? some phones have removable ones & you could just send them the memory card for use as evidence w/out having to send the entire phone.

 

Very good idea Richard, and I thank you for it.  I will have to check it out.