SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO) — A man was arrested for placing a GPS tracker under a vehicle Sunday afternoon.
Patrick Thomas Gross, 58, of Brandon, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor counts of tampering with a motor vehicle and trespassing with intent to wiretap.
“Someone saw a man under his vehicle. It appeared he pulled out an object,” Sioux Falls police spokesman Sam Clemens said during an April 1 news conference. “It turns out he was retrieving a GPS tracker that he had attached to the vehicle.”
The incident occurred in the 100 block of E 40th Street near Robert Frost Elementary School.
According to Clemens, Gross claimed he was working with a private investigator, but officials were unable to verify whether that was true.
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“At this point an arrest was made and he was charged with several offenses. Our investigation is truly complete now,” Clemens told KELOLAND News on April 2.
Clemens said such incidents are extremely rare.
“We don't have very many reports of people using GPS to track people, or at least not calling the police,” he said. “That would lead us to think that this probably isn’t a big problem.”
However, if someone finds themselves in a similar situation, Clemens recommends calling the police.
“That's what you should do, and I think that would apply to any kind of suspicious activity, especially if you see someone under your car, call the police and then let the officers handle it,” he said.
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