White Plains man uses remote desktop to help police get his stolen laptop back

Jose Caceres laptop was stolen, but he had remote access enabled ad would log on every day and watch it being used.

Caceres’ laptop was stolen on Sept. 4, when he left it on top of his car while he was carrying other things into his home, police said. For several days afterward, he said, he logged on to see if he could find out who had the stolen computer.

“It was kind of frustrating because he was mostly using it to watch porn,” Caceres said. “I couldn’t get any information about him.”

That changed last week, when Caceres noticed that someone was typing in a name and address, apparently to register on an Internet Web site.

“I gave the information to the police and a few hours later they called and told me that they caught the guy and got my computer back,” he said. “I was quite surprised at how fast they got him, but I was very happy.”

Gabriel Mejia, 34, of 18-20 Osborne St., White Plains, was charged with fourth-degree grand larceny, a felony, after police went to his apartment, talked to him and found the stolen laptop, Lt. Eric Fischer said yesterday.

The incident marked the third time in recent months that tech-savvy victims have supplied police with information that led to arrests.

The first happened in May, when a White Plains woman whose laptop was stolen from her apartment used remote access technology to sign on, then activated the stolen computer’s camera and snapped pictures of the man using it.

Police used the photos led to arrest Edmon Shahikian, 23, of Katonah and Ian Frias, 20, of the Bronx on charges of second-degree burglary and fourth-degree possession of stolen property, both felonies. Authorities said both men had attended a party at the victim’s apartment a few weeks before it was burglarized.

Earlier this month, police arrested Eric Shi, 17, of Scarsdale. He was accused of trying to sell a stolen $2,275 mountain bike. In that case, the 13-year-old victim saw his bike for sale on eBay and contacted police. An undercover officer posing as a potential buyer set up a meeting in White Plains with Shi on Sept. 17. He was charged with fourth-degree possession of stolen property when he showed up with the bike.

“This is what happens when you have victims who get involved and use the available technology to their advantage,” said Fischer, commander of the White Plains police detective division. “We end up making an arrest and the victims get their property back.”