NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A Miami man was suspected of being part of an “organized cellphone theft operation” after Tennessee police found nearly 20 phones wrapped in aluminum foil inside of an SUV, according to authorities.
According to the Metro Nashville Police Department, a 25-year-old woman was eating at a downtown Nashville restaurant Sunday morning when she noticed her $1,200 iPhone was missing from her purse.
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Police said she approached officers after tracking it down to the restaurant’s parking lot via her Apple Watch.
Officers followed the ping and found the phone “clearly visible” inside of a red Jeep Wagoneer. As they investigated, they said Orelvy Hernandez Montero, 54, returned to the Jeep, noticed officers at the scene and jumped into an Uber.
Police, however, took Hernandez Montero into custody before he could leave and found the Jeep key inside of his pocket, they said. Montero refused to talk to police and the Jeep was impounded.
“During the execution of a search warrant on the Jeep, 17 cell phones, many of them wrapped in aluminum foil (an attempt to diminish their signals), were recovered,” police said in a news release. “Also found were a laptop computer and a woman’s wallet.”
Police said they quickly identified one of the phones as being stolen Saturday night from a man’s pocket while he was inside a bar owned by Kid Rock. Police said the wallet was stolen from a Dothan, Alabama, woman Saturday night while she was in a bar owned by country singer Jason Aldean.
Hernandez Montero, who police said remains under investigation, was jailed on two counts of felony theft and one count of misdemeanor theft.