SOS Feature On iPhone Instantly Called Police And Saved A Woman From A Sexual Assaulter

In case you didn¡¯t know, our smartphones -- both Android and iOS -- are fitted with a cool SOS feature that can call emergency services at the tap of a button. And this SOS feature has recently saved the life of a woman from an assaulter.

Apple/ Reuters

The lady (who wishes to be anonymous) was at Virginia Beach at around 2:00 AM on Sunday. There she was approached by a man who was apparently claiming that he lost his iPhone in the sand. He was hoping she would let him use the ¡®Find My iPhone¡¯ feature on the device. Amidst some hesitation, she agreed to do so.

However, within a few moments, she became suspicious as she saw the man was finding it difficult to navigate through the device. She said in a statement to WTKR, ¡°I get my phone back and I turn around and I try to run away and he just comes up from behind me, tackles me, grabs my face, is covering my mouth. I¡¯m trying to scream for help, he tackles me to the ground ¨C is like shoving my face to the ground ¨C and now, because I¡¯ve been screaming, he¡¯s holding my mouth even tighter trying to muffle any noise I¡¯m making.¡±

During this, she realised that she could use the Emergency SOS feature on her device by holding power and volume down button simultaneously. This instantly connected her to law enforcement. A despatch unit could hear the struggle she was through and also shared the location.

Reuters

She further added, ¡°He looked up and the headlights from police were shining from the sand, and he just took off and ran down the beach and the police ran after him and they were able to get him in a foot pursuit.¡±

A key detail here was that during the time the dispatch could hear her incident she talking about water. This helped the cops to make the wise choice to come straight to the beach instead of looking at hotels or other homes. This proactiveness came in handy and saved her life.