Big Brother helped catch a thief after the eye in the sky helped police find and charge a woman for auto burglary.
The woman, Jo Ann Luna, 39, of Smithville is charged with theft and auto burglary. She will face preliminary hearing before General Sessions Judge Bill Locke on Jan. 27.
She was charged following the break-in of a car that was parked in the Walmart parking lot. The owner of the car admitted she failed to lock her doors before she went inside the store. According to McMinnville police investigator Barry Powers, video surveillance in the parking lot showed a man and woman approach the car and reach inside.
“They opened the door and took a cellphone charger and Belkin GPS,” Powers said after viewing the film. “The two ran from the vehicle and got into a gold Chevrolet Impala with damage to the driver side front fender.”
Officers were warned to be on the lookout for the suspect vehicle. Five days later, given the description of the damage to the Impala, police made a stop of the vehicle. Inside they found Luna who matched the image of the female burglar caught on camera. She then called her boyfriend, Shawn Bradley Patton, to the scene. He was identified as the male in the surveillance video.
Charges are pending against others in the case.