Returning to her car after a quick stop at the Adamsville Road Post Office late Thursday morning, a Westport woman discovered that her pocketbook had vanished from her unlocked SUV.

She had taken her cell phone and wallet into the post office with her but she had left her iPad and other personal items inside the pocketbook.

At 11:45 a.m., she called Westport Police and checked her iPad's Apple tracking device. It told her that that iPad was heading east and was already at the intersection of Hixbridge Road and Route 88.

Westport Police Sgt. Johnny P. Couto directed officers to leave other tasks and to attempt to locate the purse thief.

Near that Hixbridge corner, officers stopped one vehicle that matched a tentative description the victim had provided but found that its driver had no involvement in the pocketbook theft. Minutes later, though, when they checked the edge of the woods behind Handy Hill Creamer, they located the Chanel pocketbook valued at around $3,000, minus the iPad.

A witness there described a small white vehicle that had been there moments earlier.

Detective Ryan Nickelson and Officer David Simcoe continued tracking the device to property at 73 Cornell Road in Westport.  There they spoke with the homeowner, 43-year-old John Taylor III.  Officers searched a camper on the property and found the stolen IPAD which was valued at approximately $500.  Officers also saw the small white vehicle that Mr. Taylor had been driving shortly before police arrived, and located a number of pills (Xanax) that Mr. Taylor had no prescription to possess.

Mr. Taylor was arrested and charged with breaking and entering in the daytime with the intent to commit a felony, larceny over $250 and possession of a Class E substance.

"The message here is to always lock your doors, day or night," said Westport Detective Jeff Majewski.