Jason Wayne Elijah

NORTH WEBSTER — North Webster man steals iPhone, but is busted because there’s an “app for that.”

Jason Wayne Elijah, 42, 121 E. Esterbrook Drive, North Webster, is being charged with a class A misdemeanor of theft; a class B misdemeanor of unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle and sentence enhancement theft enhancement level 6 felony.

Sunday, July 17, a North Webster Police officer responded to a call of theft. When he arrived at the residence he spoke with a woman who reported her blue/green Apple iPhone 6S had been stolen from her vehicle.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, the officer spoke with the woman’s father, who told him he had used an app on his phone called “Find My iPhone” to help narrow down the area where his daughter’s phone could be.

The father asked a man in the area, who later identified as Elijah, if he had found a cell phone. The woman’s father sated Elijah responded in a nervous manner. He then told Elijah three times that if he had the phone in question, he was going to call the police. Elijah then walked into a nearby house and came back out carrying the missing iPhone.

The officer conducted an interview with Elijah on Friday, June 22. Elijah told the officer two kids found the phone and gave it to him, but was unable to provide any information as to who the kids might be. He also stated he wasn’t around when the phone was stolen, even though the woman and her father both reported seeing Elijah in the area.

Elijah is being held in the Kosciusko County Jail with a bond of $5,250 surety and cash.