MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Police recently used a clever trap to catch an accused thief and they say he took the bait.
Police say 27-year-old Adrian White broke into a car investigators planted in East Memphis near Poplar and I-240. They set up cameras and put trackers on the items inside so they could figure out who was burglarizing vehicles in the area.
Thanks to that setup, police say they connected White to six car break-ins in recent days both before and after investigators laid their trap. Police say one of the victims is an 88-year-old man. They say White broke into his truck last week.
“It’s just the idea that someone would do something and violate your property like that,” said the victim, who didn’t want to be identified.
It happened when he went to a Starbucks near Poplar and I-240 around five in the morning.
“I wasn’t in there over 20 minutes,” he says.
And police say that was plenty of time for White to pop the lock on his Ford F-150 and steal his rifle.
Police eventually tracked White to a South Memphis home near Alta Road and Dixie Road but investigators say he spotted the officers, then jumped in a car and got away. Even worse, he left the items rigged with trackers behind.
Police caught him 48 hours later near the airport but investigators haven’t said how they found him that time.
This isn’t the first time we’ve told you about White. He’s been arrested for breaking into cars before, including two that were parked near the Malco Paradiso movie theater several months ago.
White is due in court for these latest break-ins next week.
