Gainesville Police arrested a Regional Transit System bus driver Friday night for allegedly stealing two cellphones.
Police charged Kathryn Spencer, 45, of 4100 SW 20th Ave., with two counts of grand theft, said GPD spokesman Officer Ben Tobias.
Tobias said Spencer allegedly took a $600 cellphone Friday after she stopped at Hunters Run Apartments, located at 2600 SW Williston Road, during her break.
After Spencer returned to her bus, apartment management reported to police an office manager’s cellphone was missing. The manager told police the only person who went in and used the bathroom during that time was an RTS bus driver. The office manager used a GPS program to track her missing phone and found out it followed the same path as Spencer’s bus route, Tobias said.
During questioning with police, Spencer said someone turned in the phone to her on the bus. She added that RTS drivers are required to turn in lost and found property before the end of their shifts. Spencer at first denied taking the officer manager’s phone but later admitted it was in her trunk, according to the report.
When officers searched Spencer’s car, they found the office manager’s phone and a cellphone that belonged to Jenne Nekole Patterson. Patterson reported her phone stolen Jan. 15 after she left it on a windowsill outside of a Reitz Union bathroom, according to the report.
After her arrest, officers booked Spencer into the Alachua County Jail. Spencer was released just before 2 p.m. Saturday on her own recognizance, a jail official said.
Contact Kathryn Varn at kvarn@alligator.org.
