(La Porte, IN) - The pinging of a child’s stolen iPhone resulted in the arrest of a woman for the alleged theft.

 

Kristy Miller, 42, has been charged in La Porte Circuit Court with Level 6 felony Theft.

 

According to court documents, in late October an 11-year-old boy left his cell phone at a hotel along Pine Lake Avenue, where he just had a birthday party.

 

After discovering his phone was missing, a tracking device was activated, and a signal from it indicated the device was near the 600 block of Fremont Street.

 

Pinging was soon detected at other locations across the city, which indicated whoever had the phone was in a vehicle being driven. Just over two hours later, police said, the boy’s father went to the Maple Lane Mall where the phone was pinging again.  Responding officers approached Miller, walking out of one of the stores, and she handed them the device.

 

Court documents revealed Miller was captured on video surveillance adjacent to a coffee pot in the lobby of the hotel where the boy left his phone, reportedly renting a room at the establishment at the time.

 

The iPhone was valued at $850.  Miller could face as much as a 30-month prison sentence.