Authorities use tech tools to tie Florida man to vehicle break-ins in Allegheny, Westmoreland counties

Cellphone towers, hotel records, GPS locations of rental cars and license plate readers helped agents from the state Attorney General’s Office nab a Florida man they believe was involved in at least 14 vehicle break-ins spanning two counties.

Authorities charged Amahad K. Ware, 26, with numerous counts of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, forgery, identity theft, access device fraud, theft from a vehicle and criminal mischief in October. He was arraigned Monday and jailed on $500,000 bail.

Several vehicle break-ins at parking lots across the region in early February 2022 seemed to be connected, and the organized crime section of the Attorney General’s Office started working with local police, according to court papers. Wallets, IDs, checkbooks, cash, gift cards and credit and debit cards were reported missing by their owners and sometimes later used fraudulently to make purchases or withdrawals from bank accounts.

On Feb. 5, 2022, two women reported their vehicles were broken into while parked at Alpha Tennis and Fitness and Alpha Ice Complex in Harmar. Police were able to identify a GMC Terrain that was involved.

The next day, similar thefts were reported at Lynch Field in Greensburg and Twin Lakes Park in Hempfield and Unity. A GMC Terrain was in the area of both break-ins, and police learned it had been rented by a Florida woman.

More similar thefts were reported in North Fayette and Upper St. Clair on Feb. 9 in which an Audi Q5 was identified as the suspect vehicle, police said. Authorities used license plate readers to track the SUV on Interstate 79 and interviewed a woman inside who said she was being paid $300 per day to rent vehicles.

She gave investigators two phone numbers for a man she knew as “James.” Those numbers led police to Ware, authorities said. They reported using surveillance video and images from businesses across the region to track his movements, as well as hotel, GPS and cellphone tower records, to determine Ware was in the area of the vehicle break-ins at the time they happened, according to court papers.

During the investigation, Ware was taken into custody on a federal probation violation after being located in Philadelphia. Several other similar thefts had been reported in that area, police said.

Ware did not have an attorney listed in online court records. A Sept. 11 preliminary hearing is set.

He has been accused of similar crimes elsewhere in the country. Ware was arrested in 2019 in connection with a string of car break-ins and thefts in Idaho. Police at the time described him as a member of a traveling theft group from out of state.