Coachella crime fighters nab man suspected of stealing 100 phones

A ferris wheel at Coachella.
(Image credit: Matt Cowan/Getty Images)

He tried to hide amid the flower crowns, crop tops, and appropriation of Native American culture, but an alleged cellphone thief was no match for a group of hipster Nancy Drews attending day one of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

On Friday, several festival-goers realized their phones were missing, so they activated the Find My iPhone app, the Indio Police Department said. They wound up following a suspect, Reinaldo De Jesus Henao, 36, of New York, around the grounds, before he was detained by security. When officers arrived, they discovered more than 100 cellphones in his backpack, police said. Henao was arrested on suspicion of grand theft and possession of stolen property, and while several phones have been returned, the rest were dropped off at the Coachella lost and found, likely nestled in some fringe.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.