Article published May 14, 2005
CYBER CRIME FIGHTING
Stolen laptop's software may have caught thief
By STEVE MURPHY
BLADE STAFF WRITER
LIMA, Ohio - A string of break-ins last month at Lima businesses had police baffled - until a laptop computer disappeared from an insurance office on Cable Court.
Tracking software on the stolen machine alerted a Tennessee company to its location, which allowed police to track down the computer and a suspect.
Chad Thompson, 32, was arraigned yesterday in Lima Municipal Court on one count of breaking and entering, police said. He was being held in the Allen County Jail on $10,000 bond.
Lima police Detective Tim Clark said the tracking software - known as "CyberAngel" - provided the break in a case that had stymied investigators.
"It's Big Brother," he said. "This device obviously solved a string of burglaries that, if we had ever solved it, we wouldn't have solved it this fast."
Tina Thompson, a district sales coordinator for AFLAC, said she found her first-floor office had been broken into and her company laptop stolen when she reported for work the morning of April 30. She called police and CyberAngel Security Solutions Inc., a Nashville firm, that day to report the theft.Ms. Thompson, who is not related to the breaking-and-entering suspect, said the CyberAngel software silently transmits a signal to the company if someone operates the laptop without entering the correct password. She said that when she called CyberAngel, a company employee told her the missing computer had sent out an electronic alert at 4:30 a.m. that day.
Because the machine had been used to go online, the company was able to track the phone number where the connection originated, Ms. Thompson said.
Police went to a Lima address that corresponded to the phone number but found the machine had been sold. But, Detective Clark said officers eventually tracked down Ms. Thompson's laptop and recovered it Wednesday at another location in Lima.
Detective Clark said that chain ended with Mr. Thompson.
Ms. Thompson said she was thrilled to get the laptop back and impressed with the technology and sleuthing that made the recovery possible.
"I think that's some of the most beautiful detective work I've ever seen," said Ms. Thompson, a former sheriff's deputy in Allen and Clinton counties.
Detective Clark said police suspect Mr. Thompson in "at least a half a dozen" break-ins from the same neighborhood where the laptop was stolen late last month. Items taken in the burglaries included computer equipment, cameras, and other items "that are easy to liquidate in a short period of time."
The charge against the Lima man alleges that he broke into Styles and Smiles, a hair salon for children, at 700 Shawnee Rd. sometime between April 9 and 11. Detective Clark said money, a DVD player, video game system, and other items were taken. The officer said he expects authorities to seek charges against Mr. Thompson through the Allen County grand jury.
Contact Steve Murphy at:
smurphy@theblade.com
or 419-724-6078.
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