And the case may be cracked by a selfie.According to authorities, the smiling woman in the selfies is actually a violent thief who beat up a teenage girl to steal the phone that took these pictures.A young El Cerrito High School student was walking to class talking on her iPhone when a car rolled up and a woman jumped out and demanded her phone and backpack and then started punching the girl.
– People just don't learn, do they? A woman who allegedly stole a high school student's iPhone in California has given police a break in the case thanks to … a selfie—or rather, several of them. Police say an as-yet unidentified woman approached the 15-year-old student in El Cerrito on Nov. 5, demanding that she hand over her phone and backpack, reports the Los Angeles Times. When the girl refused, the suspect allegedly knocked her unconscious with a punch, took the student’s phone, dragged her a short distance, then took the girl's backpack, per the Oakland Tribune. The woman then escaped in a tan Honda or Toyota which was also carrying four males, authorities say. Days later, the student, who had to visit a hospital for treatment, found several smiling selfies of her alleged attacker on her iCloud account and sent them to police. "I don't think she knew it was being uploaded to the cloud. I think they were assuming it was on the factory default settings," an officer tells ABC7. Authorities have released three images of the woman—which show many more selfies were taken—and say tips are pouring in. (Click for more ill-advised selfies.)