App helps find stolen phone and catch Decatur thief, police report

DECATUR — A Decatur woman’s cell phone tracker app helped trace the man who had stolen it, police report.A sworn affidavit from Decatur police said the woman reported her $400

Apple iPhone 8 was taken Dec. 6 while she was at a Decatur business.Officer Tanner Brummitt, who signed the affidavit, said the woman was later able to track her phone using the

app. She then discovered it had been “submitted to a phone recycling kiosk” inside the Kroger store at 3070 N. Water St. which had paid out $11 for it. People are also

reading… Brummitt said the phone had been picked up by the company that runs the kiosk on Dec. 8. Police contacted the firm and the phone was returned and given back to the

owner. Officers were also given a copy of the transaction record when the phone was posted into the kiosk.“The transaction recorded the phone, the subject submitting the phone,

their ID and photos of the subject,” said Brummitt. Police have confirmed that Apple’s AirTags are being used by stalkers to track victims, as well as by thieves to steal

cars. Veuer’s Maria Mercedes Galuppo has the story. Police recognized the 63-year-old suspect and he was arrested Dec. 26 and booked on a preliminary charge of theft.

Brummitt says the suspect has a long criminal history and court records show he was sentenced to six years in prison in June of 2014 on a burglary conviction.A check of Macon

County Jail records Monday showed that the man remained in custody with bail set at $20,000, requiring him to post a bond of $2,000 to be freed. Prosecutors had asked for bail to

be set at $30,000. All preliminary charges are subject to review by the office of the state’s attorney. Updated mugshots from the Herald & Review Joseph A. Williams Joseph

A. Williams faces preliminary charges of aggravated resisting a peace officer, obstruction of justice, possession of machine gun and weapon by a felon, aggravated discharge of a

weapon and unlawful use of weapon, and attempted murder of a peace officer in connection with the shooting of a Decatur police officer on Jan. 8, 2022. READ MORE William A. Hosea

William A. Hosea faces preliminary charges of reckless discharge of a firearm and endangering the life of a child in connection with the Jan. 6 shooting of a 3-year-old child.

READ MORE Randolph Hayes Randolph Hayes is pleading not guilty to a charge of burglary. Prosecutors allege he stole a landline phone and then tried to sell it back to the victim.

He was on parole at the time after having been convicted of an earlier burglary offense.  TONY REID Byron D. Theus Byron D. Theus Jr. is pleading not guilty to multiple counts of