Police use technology to solve burglary at softball field

Published 7:00 am Saturday, April 5, 2014

The Picayune Police Department used technology to swiftly solve a robbery complaint involving the Long Beach Girl’s Softball Team, said Jeremy Magri assistant to the chief.

On March 24 at 8:20 p.m, officers were dispatched to the Picayune Softball Field located at 900 Central Ave., in reference to vehicles being burglarized, Magri said.

When officers arrived on the scene, they spoke with the Long Beach Girls Softball team who advised them that someone had boarded their school buses and stolen several items from the players’ book bags, Magri said.

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The stolen items had a total estimated value of $1,380 and consisted of several iPhone 4s and headphone sets, Magri said.

Through the investigation it was learned that one of the cellphones had a gps tracker application and using this technology officers were able to locate the suspects at a residence within the city limits, Magri said.

Upon arriving at the Picayune residence indicated by the tracking application, officers were able to recover all of the stolen items from a 16-year-old female and 13-year-old male, Magri said.

Both juveniles were taken into custody and transported to the Criminal Justice Center were they were charged with vehicle burglary and later released to their legal guardians, Magri said.

All of the stolen property was returned to the rightful owners, Magri said.