Pine Bluff authorities said they nabbed a vehicle thief after tracing the missing car through its safety and navigation system.
Officers received a report shortly after 9 a.m. Monday that a 2013 black Chevrolet Malibu had been stolen about 8 p.m. Wednesday by Markevius White, Pine Bluff Police Department spokesman Officer Richard Wegner said in a statement.
Once officers filed the stolen-vehicle report, the vehicle’s OnStar in-car assistance system started to trace the vehicle, Wegner said. By about 11 a.m., the car had been tracked to West 33rd Avenue and South Hazel Street in Pine Bluff, where an officer soon spotted it and tried to stop the driver, police said.
After a short police chase, the in-car assistance system disabled the the Malibu, the car rolled into a railing at a home, and a driver and passenger ran away, Wegner said. While police pursued the driver, officers found a handgun next to a shoe the driver had lost, he said.
The passenger was caught a short time later, but officers continued a ground search for the driver, who was tracked to a home in the 1600 block of West 31st Avenue, police said. A resident emerged from the home and reported to police that someone was inside, Wegner said. Officers entered and found White, who didn’t initially surrender and was subdued with a Taser, Wegner said.
Police determined White, 20, had been the Malibu’s driver and charged him with theft of property, residential burglary, possession of a defaced firearm and fleeing. He is being held at the Jefferson County jail in lieu of $6,085 bond.
The passenger was questioned and released with no charges filed.