Charlotte County Sheriff’s detectives arrested a Port Charlotte woman Monday after she found a woman’s iPhone4 left in a restroom and called the owner demanding $100 for its return. Arrested was Rene Marie Glynn, 43, 432 Delany Street. Glynn was charged with Grand Theft and Dealing in Stolen Property; this is her ninth booking with 23 records.
CCSO received a call Sunday at 11 p.m. after a woman said she accidently left her iPhone in the Murdock WalMart restroom. When she went back to get it, it was missing. The woman told detectives she “pinged” the phone with the built in GPS locator and it came back to a home in the 2500 block of Nanette Avenue in North Port. She said she continued to ping the iPhone several times and each time it came back to the same address. The woman said she was contacted by a woman who claimed to have her phone. The woman, later identified as Glynn, advised she would give the phone back but it would be at a cost. Glynn said if she didn’t give her money she would sell the phone on e-Bay and didn’t care either way.
The victim’s boyfriend spoke to Glynn and asked what was needed to get the phone back; Glynn said she wanted $100 in exchange for the phone. Glynn told the boyfriend to meet her at the North Port WalMart; CCSO detectives contacted North Port Police to pose as the boyfriend and meet with Glynn. Glynn however changed plans to meet her at the Murdock WalMart instead where the phone was originally stolen from.
CCSO detectives met the boyfriend at WalMart and waited for Glynn to show up. The boyfriend made contact with Glynn and told her he would not give her any money and wanted the phone back. Glynn then walked out and got into a pickup truck in the parking lot. The boyfriend followed and offered Glynn $20; she accepted and he got the phone. CCSO detectives who were following the boyfriend asked Glynn to get out of the pickup. Glynn was arrested and taken to the Charlotte County Jail where she remains on $7,500 bond.