South Lake Tahoe police arrest SnowGlobe laborer for stealing smart phones from lost and found
South Lake Tahoe police have arrested a contract laborer from Reno who confessed to stealing more than $17,000 worth of smart phones lost during the SnowGlobe Music Festival.
Jermaine Williams, 38, faces a felony charge of grand theft after admitting to the theft, a South Lake Tahoe Police officer said. The suspect functioned as an independent contractor laborer hired to help disassemble the mobile structures associated with the Snowglobe event.
Police were called Thursday to investigate the theft of property from the lost and found area of the Snowglobe event. The loss included all of the smart phones that had been turned into security personnel over the three day event period, said SLPD Lt. Brian Williams. Upon collection of these found cell phones, SnowGlobe security staff locked them in a storage case kept in the Lake Tahoe Community College gymnasium. This area had been used as an operations office for the event.
On New Year’s Day, a witness observed suspect Williams steal the cell phones out of the secured container in the gym and place them into a suitcase. This witness notified a Snowglobe official, who in turn called the police.
A SLTPD officer responded and contacted Williams, who the witness had identified as the thief. Williams cooperated with the investigation, admitted to the thefts, and provided the investigating officer the suitcase full of stolen phones. Williams possessed 44 stolen smart phones, all believed taken from the SnowGlobe lost and found. The estimated total value the recovered stolen property is estimated at more than $17,000. Williams was booked at the El Dorado County Jail in South Lake Tahoe for one felony count of grand theft.
During the investigation one of the theft victims arrived at the event location, looking for Williams. This victim explained that she had called her own phone in an attempt to find it. Jermaine Williams answered this call. According to the victim, Williams had instructed her to meet him near the Snowglobe stage.
Williams told the victim that he would return her victim phone for $20. The investigating officer also discovered that other contract labor workers from the Reno area had misappropriated property from the lost and found, and were still present. The officer was unable to confirm a crime actually occurred relative to these particular items, but recovered the property which included various items of clothing.
Snowglobe officials have turned over the all of the lost and found property they had collected over the three-day festival to the South Lake Tahoe Police Department to be held for safekeeping. The property and evidence staff at SLTPD is working to help identify and return these items to their rightful owners. For inquiries relative to this property, call 530-542-6145.