DEER PARK, Texas — There are new details about two teens who Deer Park Police say flew in from out of state to steal brand new iPhone 16s from people's porches. Investigators now believe it could be part of a larger scheme.
The alleged thieves used a rental car and didn't realize the car's dash camera was plugged in and rolling the entire time.
David Dye and Iyanna Perry are facing theft charges after flying to Houston to intercept new iPhone 16s just as they were delivered to AT&T customers.
"They came in and rented two cars from us," said Desmond Garrick, owner of Ride Away Rentals. "They seemed pretty young, but didn't seem like they'd give us too much trouble."
For the next 48 hours, a dash camera captured their almost every move, crisscrossing the Houston area through different neighborhoods.
"We found out they had the dashcam still plugged in, so we said OK, let's look through this and see what's going on," said Garrick.
They're seen following FedEx drivers on delivery runs, but police said this was intentional and strategic. They had tracking numbers for multiple customer deliveries and knew exactly where to go.
Garrick's video helped police connect the dots.
"We also have GPS tracking on all our vehicles, so we knew exactly what houses they went to, and we handed it all to the detective," said Garrick. "They were pretty happy about it."
Perry is seen on camera approaching a porch but appears to be just a few minutes early. The phone hadn't been delivered yet. Not long after, she returns and snatches it after the delivery.
In another clip, Dye is seen confronting a FedEx driver at a strip mall. Police said Dye tried to convince the driver to hand him the iPhone 16 delivery by providing a real tracking number.
"He tried to get the packages straight from the truck," said Garrick.
Deer Park PD pulled over Dye and Perry on Saturday. Inside the car, they found four stolen iPhone 16s.
But how two teens from Detroit obtained Houston area customers' delivery tracking information remains the big question for investigators.
Sources tell KHOU 11 News there could be other suspects involved and police continue to explore whether this is a much- larger operation.
"When I found out about this, I thought there has to be someone else behind all this," said Garrick.
These two suspects were supposed to be in Houston for a week before flying back north, so it's likely there were more intended victims.
Deer Park PD told KHOU 11 News they're working with AT&T's Fraud Global Department to try and learn more about how this customer tracking info may have ended up in the wrong hands.