Arrested Youngstown man tracked to Howland through iPhone he’s accused of stealing Saturday in Niles

Staff report

NILES

A tracking feature on an iPhone stolen during an armed robbery over the weekend helped police track down and arrest a suspect.

Jonathan K. Smith, 37, of Fifth Avenue in Youngstown is in the Trumbull County jail in lieu of $25,000 bond after being arraigned Tuesday in Niles Municipal Court on an aggravated-robbery charge.

No plea was required on the charge, which carries a penalty of 11 years, if convicted.

Smith was arrested about 7 p.m. Saturday near the Giant Eagle on East Market Street in Howland, where Niles police tracked him through a phone he’s accused of stealing.

He’s accused of robbing the Boost Mobile store, 5855 Youngstown Road, at 5:49 p.m. Saturday.

Police said a man wearing a stocking cap, dark, hooded sweatshirt and gray mask over his face ordered a Boost clerk into the back room and brandished a handgun. The suspect left the store on foot.

Smith is accused of taking cash and at least one cellphone during the robbery, including a personal phone taken from someone in the store who had activated a tracking feature, police said.

Using the tracking feature, Niles police believed the suspect was near the Howland Giant Eagle. Howland police were also called to that area for a suspicious male and determined that the suspect in the Boost robbery was in a white Ford Taurus.

Howland officers spotted the Taurus in the plaza parking lot and took Smith into custody at gunpoint.

Police found multiple iPhones in the original packaging from the manufacturer in the back seat of the Taurus. They also found a black stocking cap on the front passenger seat and a gray face shield in Smith’s sweatshirt pocket.

A witness from the robbery identified Smith as the robber, and Smith was taken to the county jail by Niles police.