Layton cops: Victim's persistence, bank text alerts lead to two arrests

Layton police are crediting the persistence of a woman in following up on a vehicle burglary with their apprehension of suspects in the case.

Lt. Shawn Horton said the victim called 911 early Wednesday afternoon to report someone had entered her garage and stolen her purse from inside her car, while she was inside her home. She immediately reported her credit cards as stolen to the affected financial institutions, which cancelled the cards.

Soon thereafter, the victim began to receive text alerts indicating one of those cards, still active, was being used at various locations in and around Layton.

"The victim was diligent in contacting the police with the locations where her financial card was being used, and an employee from one of the stores was able to provide a suspect vehicle description," Horton said.

It was the final text alert that gave police the break they needed. Police went to the Maverick store at 2014 N. Hillfield Road and located the suspect vehicle in the parking lot about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. Inside, they found a 48-year-old male and 37-year-old female — eating fast food they had allegedly just purchased with the stolen card.

It turned out that the couple's vehicle, too, was stolen, out of South Jordan.

"[Further] investigation revealed [the couple] may have been involved in numerous burglaries and financial crimes from several jurisdictions," Horton said.

Both suspects were booked into the Davis County Jail on suspicion of felonies including residential burglary, unlawful possession of a financial card, unlawful use of a credit card, theft and possession of a stolen vehicle.

remims@sltrib.com

Twitter: @remims