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Google Street View Helps Solve Robbery

by Caleb Johnson on June 22, 2009 at 11:01 AM

There's no question about it. Teens are spending more and more time online. Now, we could argue whether that is good or bad endlessly, but in one case, at least, it's been a good thing. A Dutch boy's dedicated surfing has helped local police to solve a crime, according to the AP.

While riding his bike down the streets of Groningen, a 14-year-old was yanked off his bike by two men who then stole his cell phone and the equivalent of $230. The boy reported the crime to police in September 2007, but the investigation did not produce any leads. Then, one day this past March, the boy was looking at images on Google's Street View when he saw what appeared to be the attack itself, in-progress.

The boy called the police, and the authorities requested the original image from Google, since faces appear blurry on the application. A detective recognized one of the attackers, and police immediately arrested two suspects, who are twins. Next, prosecutors will decide whether or not to press charges against the suspects, whose names have not been released.

This unique break in the case should take some heat off the application, which has garnered criticism for its alleged privacy invasion. Street View certainly has many dimensions: the good (as evidenced here), the bad, and the funny. [From: AP/The San Francisco Chronicle]

Tags: crime, google, police, privacy, robbery, street view, StreetView, top

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