Vehicle stolen in Fredericktown recovered in Cape County
FREDERICKTOWN, Mo. (KBSI) – A vehicle that was stolen is back with its owner after two police agencies worked together to locate the suspect.
According to the Fredericktown Police Department on December 16, 2024, the Fredericktown Police Department responded to a report of a stolen vehicle.
Officers gathered information from the victim and relayed the details to Madison County Dispatch, who entered the vehicle into the system as stolen.
The Cape Girardeau County Flock camera system alerted local law enforcement to the vehicle’s presence within Cape Girardeau County.
Deputies responded, successfully locating and recovering the stolen vehicle along with a stolen firearm.
A juvenile male was taken into custody during the incident.
“They were able to take him into custody and take the vehicle back into custody,” he said. “And there was a stolen firearm that was in the vehicle as well. So all that came that quick from being able to locate that car.”
With Cape Girardeau Police Department, Bobby Newton said they’ve had the Flock camera system for a while — an expensive tool that not all communities have.
“It’s an incredible tool that officers utilize,” he said. “When there’s a wanted subject associated with the vehicle, we can enter that license plate into the Flock system. So any time it passes one of the cameras, we automatically get notified of the direction of travel, where the vehicle is located, and then also a photograph of the vehicle, so we can confirm if that’s the vehicle that we’re looking for or not.”
This comes as investigators in other Southeast Missouri communities also work to piece together clues to solve similar crimes.
In Dexter multiple vehicles were reported as being tampered with on Sunday and Monday, along with two vehicle thefts.
In New Madrid, police are investigating multiple thefts that occurred Monday, as suspects stole from unlocked vehicles in the early morning hours.
Hovis said this kind of crime happens all year long but throughout his career he has seen a spike in vehicle break-ins during the holiday season.
“There’ll be people that get dropped off on the end of a street in the middle of the night and they’ll go up and down the street on both sides,” he said. “They’ll find a car that’s been left unlocked and they’ll rummage through it or they’ll find one that there is a valuable in it that may be locked and they’ll break into it.”
Both Newton and Hovis advise people to protect their things by locking their vehicles, bringing valuables inside instead of leaving them in the vehicle, and if you’re out shopping and can’t bring the items inside, make sure the items are out of sight.
Officer Newton said if you are a victim of vehicle tampering but don’t want to file an official police report you can still call your local law enforcement agency and let them know what happened so they are aware of what areas maybe be getting hit harder than other areas.
