Man accused of stealing 34 cellphones at Electric Daisy Carnival

ORLANDO, Fla. - Orlando police say they caught a suspected thief who took advantage of concert-goers at the Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) over the weekend.

Thousands danced to the music at Camping World Stadium, but among the crowd, police say there was a thief.  

"We had a patron contact our officers say he saw a suspect, a Hispanic male, grabbing phones out of peoples' back pockets," said Orlando Police Lt. Wanda Migilo.

Tony Nguyen was waiting in line for the bathroom when his cell got taken.

"I felt a bump, a lot of people, so I didn’t think anything of it," Nguyen said.

Another woman, who asked not to be named, said she was also targeted. She said she was putting her phone in her friend's fanny pack when she felt someone grab it and pull it away from her.

"This person slinked away into the crowd, and after that, I checked my pockets and my phone was gone," she said. 

Officers said Carlos Perez-Hernandez stole 34 phones, worth more than $20,000.   According to investigators, he was able to put all the cellphones on airplane mode, so victims couldn’t track them.  Police said, because someone saw what was happening and reported it, they were able to catch the accused culprit during the festival.

Officers have some advice to protect your cellphone.

"If you don’t have that extra set up with a fingerprint or a passcode, then, yes, they can go right into settings and do that [put your phone on airplane mode.]"

If your phone is in a purse, make sure it’s in a zipper, then another zipper.  Nguyen plans to be more careful in the future. 

"Felt kind of violated. After that I was stressed out and couldn’t have a good time because your whole life is on your phone now," he said.

Nguyen says he believes the suspect had several people helping him.