Carrollton Kentucky Police Department

John Payton

Kevin Murphy

The owner of a stolen van used real-time GPS tracking to help Carroll County authorities apprehend the men who allegedly stole two vans from a Louisville business.

Carroll County Central Dispatch received a call at 8:14 a.m. on April 2, 2013 from the owner of Valley Medical Transportation. The business is located in Louisville. The owner was tracking a van through a GPS system. She gave real-time locations of the van to the dispatch center as the Carrollton Police Department and Carroll County Sheriff’s Office were sent to the location of the van.

The van was stopped in the parking lot of a Speedway gas station in Carrollton. CPD Assistant Chief Steve Abbott, Chief Michael Willhoite and CCSO Deputy Clay Cable were on scene.

John W. Payton, 30, was identified as the operator of the van while Kevin Murphy, 26, was the passenger. Both men were from Louisville. Both were charged with Receiving Stolen Property $10,000 or more.

“Upon arresting the men and doing a search incident to arrest, we recovered approximately $35,000 in stolen property from the rear of the van. The property included motor vehicle tools, electronics, gaming systems, and games,” said Chief Willhoite.

A majority of the stolen items belonged to Valley Medical Transportation. The owner or owners of the remaining items have not been identified.

Two vans were actually stolen from Valley Medical Transportation, according to Chief Willhoite. An employee noticed a lot of damage to the automotive repair part of the business and two vehicles were stolen when he arrived at work. They contacted Louisville Metro Police, which was doing a burglary investigation at the time the van and the two men were apprehended. The second van was recovered by Kentucky State Police in Pendleton.

The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and Carrollton Police Department were each awarded one mobile data terminal (MDT) to be installed in their vehicles. The laptop-style computers were purchased by the Kentucky Attorney General’s office with funds from a federal grant.

The local departments are among 78 police agencies throughout the Commonwealth that are receiving the computers. Their purpose is to allow officers better access to the eWarrants program, which was funded through the Rural Law Enforcement Grant as part of the American Resources and Recovery Act. The $3.94 million grant was awarded to Kentucky in 2009 to make eWarrants accessible to all police agencies throughout Kentucky. Distribution of the MDTs is the final phase of implementing the grant.

“This helps put technology in the hands of officers while they are out in the field,” Attorney General Jack Conway said. “It gives officers the tools they need to almost instantly determine whether or not a person has an outstanding warrant.”

Conway came to Carrollton to personally present the computers to Sheriff Jamie Kinman and Police Chief Michael Willhoite.

“We are very appreciative of the Attorney General’s office supplying us with this MDT,” Sheriff Kinman said. “Without their help, it would not be possible for the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office to purchase such a valuable computer.”

Chief Willhoite added that, with the MDT, “officers can check vehicles, driver’s licenses and people wanted on warrants in Kentucky and nationwide before they get out of the car, adding to the officer’s safety and effectiveness.” He noted the current eWarrants system does not compare to the paper warrant days and the service rate has increased since eWarrants was begun in Carroll County.