Man accused of placing GPS device on victim’s car before burglarizing her home | Ars Technica

A burglary suspect currently on trial in Johnson County, Kansas allegedly put a GPS tracking device on a victim's car to determine whether anyone was home. The unnamed Overland Park woman told her story to the Kansas City Staron Friday. Overland Park police, Leawood police, and Johnson County prosecutors declined to comment on the GPS allegation to the newspaper.

According to the Star, the suspect, Steven Alva Glaze, allegedly burglarized the woman's home on March 25. The victim owns a jewelry business in the Kansas City suburb. Glaze is now on trial for 14 counts of criminal damage to property, theft, attempted burglary, and burglary for the alleged crimes.

The use of GPS tracking devices surreptitiously installed on cars recalls the famous Jones v. United States case, in which the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in 2012 that law enforcement does not have the authority to warrantlessly place a device on a criminal suspect's vehicle. However, the use of GPS by criminal suspects to track victims still seems to be quite rare.

Criminals are certainly aware of GPS devices—they get stolen nationwide fairly regularly. And as we reported late last month, many felons and sex offenders are able to easily disable or remove their GPS anklets.

According to Overland Park police, the woman's home alarm system went offline around 2pm on March 25. That was around the same time that a truck with a trailer pulled up near the house and backed into the driveway, according to a neighbor.

“I came home about 5:30pm,” said the woman, whose house has been undergoing remodeling and construction. “I had been storing things in the garage and when I walked in the garage, it was like a war zone.”

Prosecutors accused Glaze of stealing more than “$100,000 in jewelry, purses, wallets, luggage, coins, and fur coats from the woman.” The woman claims that her losses total approximately three times that amount.