Coachella crime fighters nab man suspected of stealing 100 phones

(Image credit: Matt Cowan/Getty Images)

published 18 April 2017

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 has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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