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Samsung tablet's remote location feature helps Richfield PD solve series of crimes

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RICHFIELD, Utah — Two people were arrested late last month when a burglary investigation led police to discover evidence of several other crimes in Richfield.

According to a probable cause statement, police received a report of a vehicle burglary on the morning of April 30. The victim told police two handguns and a Samsung tablet computer had been taken from the vehicle.

About an hour after the initial report, the victim notified police that the tablet's remote location feature was active and had returned a set of GPS coordinates showing its approximate location.

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Police went to the location shown in the coordinates and found a gray Chevy Tahoe parked next to an RV. A Richfield officer used binoculars to observe a woman in the Tahoe talking on a cellphone and driving away.

Other officers stopped the Tahoe driver on suspicion of driving a vehicle with expired registration and no insurance.

The driver, 29-year-old Shyanna Lee Gallegos, had statewide warrants for her arrest, the statement says. Police said they found the Samsung tablet and one of the handguns in the Tahoe, along with a pipe consistent with the use of methamphetamine.

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Police obtained a search warrant for the RV, where they found the other handgun under a pillow and substances consistent with methamphetamine and marijuana. Officers made contact with 28-year-old Cody Wright, who they said lives in the RV with Gallegos.

A search of trash bags piled around the RV yielded mail belonging to Gallegos, a set of scriptures that had been reported stolen, a Ford key fob and a burnt safe. Police said the key fob and the safe had been stolen in separate vehicle burglaries.

Police said Gallegos and Wright were also in possession of a corrections officer's set of ballistic body armor, and there are still several stolen firearms that have yet to be recovered.

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Gallegos faces three second-degree felony counts of theft of a firearm or operable vehicle, three class A misdemeanor counts of burglary of a vehicle, one class B misdemeanor count of use or possession of drug paraphernalia, two class B misdemeanor counts of possession or use of a controlled substance and one class A misdemeanor count of theft by receiving stolen property.

Wright faces one second-degree felony count of theft of a firearm or operable vehicle, three class A misdemeanor counts of burglary of a vehicle, one class B misdemeanor count of use or possession of drug paraphernalia, two class B misdemeanor counts of possession or use of a controlled substance and one class A misdemeanor count of theft by receiving stolen property.