Can the police trace a thief from a Visa card number?

The manager at the store where I work today had her iPhone 4S stolen by a customer who had just bought something using his Visa Debit Card. After she served him, he reached over the counter and grabbed her iPhone and run away. The transaction had gone through the till and the card was verified by the PIN number. The till printed out the entire 16 digit card number and the expiry date on a receipt which our store keeps for their records. Assuming the card isn't stolen, can the police trace the offender just by a 16 digit Visa card number and it's expiry date? Also, would Visa be willing to hand this information to the police without a court order. We also have crystal clear CCTV images of the guy stealing it.

I don't know for sure, but the police could work with her service provider to track her phone down. As far as her card goes, I know that if he was using the actual card, then they could track where the transaction occurred. If they find that he just took the card number and dropped the phone, then try and get the card voided.

Depends on if its prepaid…

it may be possible to trace it back further to who bought the prepaid card--but it makes it more difficult

as long as the phone has a charged battery, the phone can be powered on remotely and traced…

there are also apps, at least for android, that make your phone scream, locate or disabled it.

They could but maybe it isn't theirs or wrong info (name address etc) it all depends

You should just let your manager worry about this.

A police report should be filed, and perhaps they will supeona VISA for the person's information and see if that matches with the person's State ID or License and what they look like on the CCTV images.

Also, would be a good idea for someone to have their phone laying around. I know some coworkers of mine do it, and I have seen plenty of opportunities for phones to be stolen by customers.