WASHINGTON, Jan 22: Thieves who stole global positioning systems (GPS) from a warehouse in New York state were apprehended after authorities activated the tracking devices to locate them, police said yesterday .

Fourteen GPS were stolen last week from a warehouse in Babylon, New York.

The town had planned to use them to track its municipal fleet of vehicles.

Police and municipal staff said they remotely activated the devices and were led to the home of one of the culprits who was found fiddling with one of them.

“The GPS device is quite beneficial when we are looking for something.

Within 48 hours we had the individuals under arrest for this (crime),” said

Inspector Robert Casagne of the Suffolk County detachment.

The thieves believed they had snagged cell phones and planned to sell them, he said.

Three people face charges.—AFP