Police used a decoy iPad Monday to lure, track and then catch a man who they say stole the device from a car in the Oregon District.

According to a Dayton Police incident report, detectives put the tablet equipped with a camera inside a city owned Chevy Lumina.

The iPad was set up to start taking pictures when moved and to send alerts about its current location to police.

According to the report, 20-year-old Ravon Spears, took the tablet from the car and took off with it.

He didn’t know that the iPad began taking his picture and tracked him to an apartment building on Wilkinson, a few blocks away.

Police followed it, went inside and found spears with the iPad in a backpack. He was arrested and is facing a misdemeanor theft charge. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail Tuesday and his bond was set at $1,000.

Spears has several prior misdemeanor convictions for criminal trespass and one conviction for carrying a concealed weapon.

News Center 7’s Mark Bruce talked to some Oregon District business owners who applauded Dayton’s police department for some forward thinking policing.

Jesy Anderson, owner of Sew Dayton said a lot of people have a stigma against downtown Dayton because of safety concerns. “We’ve cleaned it up and hopefully it brings more people down knowing police are being proactive and doing smart ingenious ways to keep criminals off the street.”

A Dayton police lieutenant confirmed the use of a decoy iPad in investigating crimes, but did not want to elaborate.