if needing an article to cite...
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/06/18/man_pleads_guilty_to_botched_robbery_gps_used_in_arrest/
Man pleads guilty to botched robbery; GPS used in arrest
Boston Globe, 18 June 2008
Global positioning devices have become de rigueur for many
motorists who need help with directions. But for law enforcement
authorities, the devices can also be an effective crime-fighting
tool, especially when secretly attached to automobiles used as
getaway cars.
Yesterday, Richard R. Wark Jr. of Dorchester pleaded guilty in
federal court in Boston to participating in a botched bank
robbery in Everett on Oct. 25 that occurred after State Police
had put a Global Positioning System device on the getaway car.
The Dodge Intrepid, which Wark drove after the attempted heist,
belonged to his uncle.
State Police attached the device apparently because Wark was
suspected of participating in another bank robbery on Oct. 1 in
Hampton Falls, N.H. Wark, 25, a high school dropout, also
pleaded guilty to that crime in US District Court.
Wark faces up to 20 years in prison on each charge when
sentenced on Sept. 23.
The day of the second crime, federal and state authorities
followed the car for several hours until Wark allegedly stopped
outside an East Boston Savings Bank in Everett around 4 p.m. His
two passengers got out and tried to rob the bank, but fled
without any cash, according to an FBI affidavit. Because of the
GPS equipment, the FBI and State Police quickly found the
fleeing car, chased it to South Boston, and arrested the three
men.
Timothy Watkins, a federal defender representing Wark, said he
was unaware how often authorities have used GPS equipment for
surveillance in Massachusetts.
Federal law allows it, as long as the officers attach the device
to the outside of the car, because police can already follow
automobiles, he said.
"If you can follow a car visually, there's no reason you can't
track it with the aid of a [GPS] device," he said.
Still, Watkins said he was troubled by the use of GPS in
surveillance because it enables police officers located miles
away to track the movements of a vehicle without probable cause.
"It does smack of Big Brother," he said.
David Procopio, a spokesman for the State Police, confirmed that
state troopers use GPS in criminal investigations but declined
to provide specifics "for strategic reasons."
Wark, a stocky man wearing an untucked white pullover, told US
District Judge George A. O'Toole Jr. that he participated in
both robberies, including the one of a Citizens Bank branch on
Oct. 1.
During that robbery, he and another man, who was also later
arrested, stole $8,515 after Wark allegedly threatened to shoot
a teller if she activated an alarm, according to Assistant US
Attorney Lisa M. Asiaf.
Wark's two codefendants in the second robbery, Jason S. Geddes
and Edward A. Stone, have pleaded guilty and are scheduled to be
sentenced on July 15, Asiaf said.
Received on Sat Mar 02 2024 - 00:57:28 CST