Hiawatha police: GPS tech located stolen work truck a Cedar Rapids woman was driving

A Cedar Rapids woman was arrested Saturday after GPS tracking in a stolen work truck led Hiawatha police to the vehicle, according to a Linn County criminal complaint.

Police said Wendie R. Beard, 25, entered a Hiawatha home Saturday in the 300 block of Marion Street — one block north of Blairs Ferry Road, east of Interstate 380 — and took a man's work truck, valued at over $10,000, as well as Apple Watches, an iPhone and a credit card reader.

The GPS technology in the truck assisted the officers, who caught up with Beard and made a traffic stop on Alice Road near Center Point.

Police said Beard was driving while barred and they found the items stolen from the Hiawatha home in her possession. They also said she had used a can of white spray paint to cover decals on the truck and had attempted to alter the license plate.

Beard is in the Linn County Jail on charges of first-degree theft, a Class C felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison; third-degree burglary; driving while barred; fourth-degree criminal mischief and drug paraphernalia, allegedly for a drug pipe officers found with marijuana residue. Her total bond amount is $18,500 cash or surety.