Buda burglar foiled by iPhone

by SEAN KIMMONS

The electronic giant Apple Inc. claims to have an application on their iPhone devices for almost everything. Catching a thief should be one of them.

Buda police traced a 22-year-old thief to a home near Mustang Ridge via a GPS tracking application on an iPhone that he stole from a vehicle in the 100 block of Kalis Road last week, police say.

Henry Fountain, of Austin, was arrested Monday for home and vehicle burglaries stemming from his crime spree in the Creekside Park subdivision on April 19.

Fountain

According to an affidavit used to secure an arrest warrant, one of the victims told police that when his stolen iPhone was powered on a few days later, a tracking application pinpointed his phone to Fountain’s home in the 11000 block of Maha Loop Road, just southeast of Austin.

Officer Casey Lopasky traveled to the home and observed a vehicle in the driveway that matched the description of one that had been seen at the scene of a crime involving a stolen check card. The check card was taken from a second vehicle in the 100 block of Madisons Cove, the affidavit says.

On April 25, a search warrant was issued and a search was conducted on Fountain’s home and several items stolen from both vehicles were recovered.

Fountain admitted to police that he broke into at least two vehicles in Creekside Park overnight between April 18 and 19. He said that he likely stole a purse, a pink lunchbox and Garmin GPS unit from a vehicle parked inside an open garage on Madisons Cove. He then said he took an iPhone, which he sold on Craigslist for $400, from another vehicle on Kalis Road, the affidavit, written by Lopasky, stated.

Since the first vehicle was parked in the garage, police have charged Fountain with burglary of a habitation, a second-degree felony. He is also charged with burglary of a vehicle, a class A misdemeanor, as well as a probation violation from a burglary of a habitation charge out of Lubbock County, records show.

Buda Police Chief Bo Kidd said that Fountain could also face other charges, such as credit card abuse, for illegal transactions with the stolen check card at several locations in Austin.

On Tuesday, Fountain was transferred from Travis County authorities to Hays County Jail, where he remains in custody on bonds totaling $27,500.

No other arrests have been made in connection with the crime spree, however, Kidd said that they are looking for another possible suspect.