A Portland couple utilized modern technology, including their iPhone, a CO2 machine, and a neighbor's surveillance footage, to track down a suspected burglar following a break-in at their temporarily deserted, storm-damaged home. Shu-Ju Wang and her husband Mike Colman had been staying at a hotel after severe weather left their West Portland Park neighborhood residence in ruins. Upon returning to collect belongings, they discovered their dwelling had been burglarized, with valuables such as a cello, electronics, and jewelry missing.
As reported by KGW, the couple visited their home about a week after the burglary and retrieved a CO2 monitor which revealed through its history log that an unauthorized individual had been inside the house during their absence. "You can download historic data," Wang said. This piece of evidence added to their suspicion that the break-in wasn't simply a random occurrence.
The breakthrough came when their neighbor, James Tabor, provided video evidence from a surveillance camera overlooking the street. Tabor recollected to KGW, "I remembered Thursday prior, I saw two guys walking down the street that did not fit in." These suspicions raised by the neighbor's observations were compounded when the couple began receiving alerts from their 'Find My iPhone' feature.
Wang and Colman leveraged the "Find My iPhone" notifications alongside the surveillance footage to pinpoint their stolen Apple products to a nearby apartment in Tigard—a detail first disclosed by The Daily Posting. Neighbor Tabor also witnessed the suspect's vehicle, a pickup truck, confirming its location. He told The Daily Posting, "I just drove over there to see if the pickup truck was there, and low and behold, he passed me as I pulled in."
With accrued evidence in hand, Wang and Colman presented their case to the Portland police, which led to the obtaining of a search warrant and subsequent arrest of 54-year-old Jack Kowalski. While Wang expressed sorrow over her unrecovered expensive jewelry, she remained grateful for what was salvaged. In an interview given to AOL, Wang reflected, "I am very sorry to have lost some of these material things, but I'm still just thinking, 'Wow, we are so lucky.'"
