When a stolen car went flying through a Menlo Park neighborhood last Saturday, the driver probably thought he was in the clear. He was wrong. Not because officers outran him. Not because a helicopter was circling overhead. But because while he was busy flooring it, a GPS dart was already stuck to his car, quietly reporting his every move back to dispatch. Welcome to the era of the StarChase, the police pursuit gadget that basically says: go ahead, run — we’ll catch up.
Menlo Park police have been quietly using this technology since 2022, and last weekend’s car theft case gave the department one of its cleaner illustrations of how the system pays off. Officers spotted the stolen vehicle, deployed the tracker, and then — in a move that sounds almost counterintuitive for a police chase — backed off. No high-speed pursuit through residential streets. No screeching tires through school zones. Just calm, real-time GPS tracking until the car came to a stop in Berkeley, where officers from multiple agencies were waiting to make the arrest.
Inside the vehicle were three juveniles: two 15-year-olds and a 13-year-old. Also inside? A replica Glock 19. It is a sobering reminder that car theft is rarely just car theft, particularly when minors are involved and replica weapons are along for the ride. The case quickly became about more than a missing vehicle…