A female student at California's El Cerrito High school had her phone stolen while walking home from school. Days later she alerted police after photos of the alleged culprit appeared in her cloud storage. Photo By El Cerrito Police Department

EL CERRITO , Calif., Nov. 19 (UPI) -- California police began searching for a cellphone thief after the victim discovered several photos of the suspect in their online storage.

A female student at California's El Cerrito High school had her phone stolen while walking home from school. Days later, she alerted police after photos of the suspected culprit appeared in her cloud storage.


A police report states that the unnamed victim was stopped by a tan "Japanese vehicle" believed to be a Honda or Toyota while walking home from school around noon on Nov. 5. A female suspect then emerged from the car, demanding that the victim hand over her phone and backpack.

When the victim refused the suspect pushed her in the head repeatedly and stole the backpack before fleeing the scene.

The victim was later able to identify the subject of the photos as the person who attacked her and provided them to the El Cerrito Police Department.