HAMILTON — A robbery suspect police had been pursuing for three months was caught after prosecutors said he inadvertently stole a cell phone equipped with GPS technology.
Police used the technology to pinpoint the residence of John Wesley Womack, 34, of Middletown, who was indicted July 11 on 10 counts of robbery.
He is scheduled to appear in Butler County Common Pleas Court on July 30.
During a search of the house, police say they also found a toy gun they believe Womack used in the robberies of 10 Middletown businesses.
If the weapon had been real, each of the robbery charges would also have carried an additional 3-year sentence if convicted.
“It was his lucky day that they found this toy gun,” said Assistant Prosecutor David Kash.
Police said they tracked the phone after a robbery at a Papa John’s pizzeria in which a $150 designer purse was stolen.
Inside the purse was the GPS-equipped cell phone, and Sprint cell-phone services was able to find the phone’s location.
In addition to the cell phone and purse, credit card receipts from Papa John’s and drug paraphernalia were found during the May 22 search, police said.

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