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Gene Kennedy Reporting Technology made a major difference this morning in catching two car thieves. It allowed authorities to actually track the path of the stolen car.
The car was stolen from Cottonwood Heights but found on the west side.
The vehicle had an On-Star system so authorities were tracking every move. They could see the car moving in the West Jordan-Taylorsville area.
Once it stopped near 3500 West 5400 South, unmarked sheriff's cars pulled next to it. Deputies arrested the two people in the vehicle and called the car's owner.
All of that was possible because of the On-Star technology.
Lt. Chris Bertram, Salt Lake Co. Sheriff's Office: "In the Salt Lake area that's a great asset. People who have vehicles with the On-Star, it makes it extremely easy to find the vehicle within a very short time. Hopefully the vehicle doesn't have a lot of damage and not a lot of property taken out of the vehicle."
Deputies arrested a 29-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman. The man who was arrested told police the woman had nothing to do with the stolen car, so deputies initially released her.
But then the car's owner noticed items missing from his SUV. Deputies say the woman had those missing items stashed in another vehicle nearby, so they re-arrested her.
Deputies tell us typically car thieves work in pairs, and in many cases they may just burglarize cars to get various items. But there's a significant problem on the East Bench with people who leave valuable belongings out in the open, even keys in the car.
KSL has done stories on that, but what's unique about this story is the On-Star technology and how it helped catch the thieves so quickly.
