POLK COUNTY, Fla. – A quick stop at a convenience store turned into a felony investigation earlier this month, but modern technology helped deputies close the case before the trail went cold.
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the incident unfolded on November 13 at a 7-Eleven on Marigold Avenue in Poinciana. A customer parked at the store and went inside, leaving their vehicle unattended. During that brief window, an individual entered the vehicle and removed an electronic tablet before fleeing the scene.
Upon returning to the vehicle and realizing the theft had occurred, the victim utilized the device’s remote tracking feature. The signal pinpointed the tablet’s location to a residence on Flatfish Drive, approximately six miles away from the scene of the crime.
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The victim immediately contacted the Sheriff’s Office with the location data.
When deputies arrived at the residence on Flatfish Drive, they made contact with 32-year-old Willie Ray Salgado. During questioning, Salgado eventually produced the stolen tablet and handed it over to investigators.
While Salgado denied being the person who initially took the device from the vehicle, authorities say he admitted to possessing it with specific intent. According to the arrest report, he confessed that he planned to bypass the tablet’s login security to claim the device as his own.
Salgado was arrested and transported to the Sheriff’s Processing Center. He faces charges of burglary of a conveyance and grand theft.
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