GRAND FORKS - Investigators looking into a rash of vehicle break-ins on the University of North Dakota campus reportedly found a hoard of stolen GPS units in a freshman's dorm room.
Joseph Sontoya, 19, acknowledged that 20 GPS units in his room were taken from vehicles, most of which were parked on campus, an investigator's report said.
UND and Grand Forks police officers, along with local drug task force agents, searched Sontoya's room in Smith Hall on March 11 looking for stolen property. In addition to the GPS units, items seized included four electronic music players, two radar detectors, two purses, two cellular phones, a digital camera and an orange-handled tool for punching out windows, court documents show.
A search warrant affidavit said an unusually high number of thefts from vehicles had been reported to UND police since Jan. 1. In most cases, the thefts took place in campus lots; side windows were broken; and electronics were taken, the affidavit stated.
The affidavit said a tip from a confidential informant for the drug task force pointed investigators toward Sontoya's room. The informant told investigators that Sontoya tried to get the informant to buy a GPS unit or an Apple iPod and that he asked the informant to sell stolen property on the Internet.
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Sontoya, a criminal justice major, was arrested March 11 and is set for a preliminary hearing April 14. He's charged with theft of property and three counts of unlawful entry of a vehicle. A criminal complaint said the three break-ins he's charged with occurred on campus in the first half of March. The vehicles all had GPS units stolen, and in one case, an iPod and a purse were also taken, the complaint stated. In searching Sontoya's room, authorities found a digital scale and a notebook containing drug prices, court documents said. For allegedly having the scale, Sontoya was charged with possessing drug paraphernalia.
The search warrant affidavit said Sontoya told the informant that he and another person broke into vehicles. Authorities are still investigating but have no other suspects, the university said Thursday in a news release.
Sontoya is no longer in custody. A message left at a Twin Cities-area number listed for him in the university's directory was not returned Thursday evening. Court officials did not know if he had an attorney.
