GPS device helps cops catch its suspected thief

Suffolk police arrested one person suspected of stealing several GPS devices from the Town of Islip on Labor Day. Town Supervisor Phil Nolan said 56 global positioning devices were taken from the town's

News 12 Staff

Sep 5, 2007, 2:30 AM

Updated 6,216 days ago

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Suffolk police arrested one person suspected of stealing several GPS devices from the Town of Islip on Labor Day.
Town Supervisor Phil Nolan said 56 global positioning devices were taken from the town's Department of Public Works trucks. Thirty-three were stolen from the department's yard in Sayville and 23 were taken from its Central Islip depot.
The GPS device helped lead police to one of the suspect's exact location, Nolan said.
"Apparently what was happening was the GPS device is also a phone and I guess people utilized the phone," he said.
Steve Hicks, the town's GPS manager, said the active phone line pinpointed the suspect's location. Hicks said Suffolk police were told where to find him, at Argyle Lake in Babylon.
The town uses the devices to track DPW employees, Hicks said. Anonymous tipsters told News 12 Long Island the thieves knew there wouldn't be overnight security on Labor Day.
"You know the fact that they went after these GPS devices and the fact that some employees didn't like us putting them in the vehicles kind of makes you think that," Nolan said.
Suffolk police nor the district attorney's office would comment on the ongoing investigation, but Nolan expects more arrests.