Police: GPS at Monroe School Campus, but Stolen Car was in N.J.

A black 2004 Acura TL reported stolen in Harrison, N.J., on May 5 was recovered by police in Newark, N.J., on Tuesday, but some time in between a GPS reading saying the vehicle was at the school campus at 345 Fan Hill Road in Monroe led to a "precautionary lockdown" of three school buildings as town police searched the area for the stolen car on Monday.

No stolen car or suspicious people were found at Sandy Hook Elementary, Fawn Hollow Elementary and Jockey Hollow Middle schools and the lockdown was lifted after a half-an-hour.

Apparentally, the GPS unit was in Monroe, but the stolen car was in New Jersey the whole time. How could this happen?

A financial company car buyers at a New Jersey dealership take out loans from has GPS tracking units installed in every vehicle in the event someone defaults on a loan, so the vehicle can later be repossessed, according to Monroe Police Lt. Brian McCauley. He said the financial company told police the dealership may have installed the wrong GPS into the 2004 Acura that was stolen.

The GPS system randomly stores locations, according to McCauley, who said different locations in Monroe and Newtown came up between Monday and Tuesday.

"The finance company contacted us on Tuesday and stated the GPS was active again and stationary on Toddy Hill Road in Newtown," he recalled. "As our officers were en-route, the police department was contacted by the Harrison Police Department, who informed us that the stolen vehicle was just recovered in Newark."

A Fast Response

On May 5, a Stamford man left his keys in the car after parking his Acura in Harrison, N.J., and as he was walking across the street, he saw a man jump into the vehicle and drive off, according to police.

Then at 12:05 p.m. on Monday, the finance company told Harrison police of the GPS reading in Monroe.

Monroe officers immediately alerted the schools and put on a soft or precautionary lockdown, according to McCauley.

"Officers searched the parking lot, driveways and surrounding streets," he said.

On Monday, Monroe Supt. of Schools James Agostine told Patch there was also a sweep of the three school buildings to ensure nobody was there who shouldn't be.

During the police search, McCauley said educators wanted to keep the school day as normal as possible for the children.

He said an officer checks I.D.'s of visitors in the driveway throughout the school day.

"If someone arrived in a black Acura TL, that person would have been getting very explicit attention," McCauley said.

When the stolen vehicle was not found, McCauley said the finance company did not receive any more GPS readings that day and thought the system may have been disabled or stored in a garage.

Monroe officers kept in constant contact with Harrison police and interviewed the owner of the stolen car while conducting the investigation.