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Burglar Busted After Leaving Cell Phone Charging at the Scene of Crime

by Amar Toor on February 4, 2011 at 09:15 AM

cody wilkins A Maryland man accused of pulling off ten burglaries is sitting in jail right now, thanks to a single cell phone and a well-timed power outage.

On Friday evening, 25-year-old Cody Wilkins broke into a home in Silver Spring, Maryland, in search of jewelry. His operation was interrupted, however, when the family's son walked into the house. Panicking, Wilkins jumped out of a window, and ran away. In his haste, however, he forgot to collect his cell phone, which he had left charging in a socket. Upon arriving at the scene, police seized the phone, which connected Wilkins to no less than 10 burglaries in the region.

So why would a burglar take the time to charge his cell phone in the middle of a heist? Police say Wilkins's home, like many others in the D.C. area, lost power last week, thanks to a massive snowstorm that left some 210,000 Pepco customers in the dark. Detectives finally arrested the suspect as he was in the middle of flushing his stolen jewelry down the toilet -- which, ironically enough, happened to be around the same time that Wilkins's power came back on. He's now being held on $1 million bail at a Montgomery County jail, where he's undoubtedly wondering why he never invested in a car charger.

Tags: burglary, cell+phone+burglar, cellphoneburglar, cellphones, charger, cody+wilkins, CodyWilkins, crime, criminal, law, maryland, PEPCO, power, PowerOutage, theft, top

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