GPS helps cops track down stolen Honda

WILMINGTON – Time: 9:08 a.m. – Wednesday morning
Location: 2300 Block of Wrightsville Avenue
Offense: Auto Theft – RECOVERY AND ARREST

Summary: The female victim reported that someone had stolen her company car from the parking lot outside her apartment. She also said the car, a 2009 Honda Accord, was equipped with a GPS tracking device. While the responding WPD officer was still talking to the victim, a neighbor from the same apartment complex came forward and reported seeing a young man get into the car around midnight and drive it away. This witness also provided a physical description of the suspect. The tracking system indicated that the stolen car had been driving around in the area of Wayne Drive for the past several hours.

The responding officer had traveled to the crime scene via Wayne Drive, and he remembered seeing a late-model sedan parked along the street with a young man matching the suspect description standing in front of car. The officer immediately returned to Wayne Drive and saw the same man walking toward Forest Hills Drive. The officer drove back to where the car was still parked, and confirmed that it was the stolen Honda. He stayed by the car and issued a lookout for the suspect. Another WPD officer quickly detained the man at Forest Hills Drive and Colonial Drive. The witness who had come forward earlier was able to identify the man in custody as the person he saw stealing the car. The suspect, Rajohn Dwayne Utley, age 17, was charged with Larceny of a Motor Vehicle. He is at the New Hanover County detention facility under $5,000 secure bond. The recovered Honda Accord was returned to the victim.

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