‘Straight out of Star Wars!’: High tech gadget helps recover BMW stolen from Westford

WESTFORD, Mass. — A stolen BMW is back with its rightful owner in Westford after police used a high-tech gadget to track its location 50 miles away in Quincy.

Massachusetts State Police launched a dart fitted with a GPS tracking device onto the back of the stolen SUV last weekend using a technology called StarChase.

The agency just began using the tracker technology in May and has seen a high success rate.

In this latest case, it allowed police to close in on the stolen vehicle’s exact location without a high-speed chase escalating.

A police report said authorities arrested six suspects after troopers caught up with the BMW X3.

“It seemed like something straight out of Star Wars!,” the car owner told Boston 25 News, praising police and the technology. “It gave me confidence that they were doing an excellent job of trying to find my car.”

The BMW’s owner said the car thieves took off after he left the key in his unlocked vehicle.

Authorities tracked it in Revere using license plate recognition cameras before State Police got the upper hand with StarChase technology.

Troopers deployed the GPS tracking tag with a launcher that’s mounted to the front of the cruiser.

The white BMW X3 was located on Garfield Street in Quincy more than 72 hours after it was stolen.

“Statistically, it’s more than just a stolen car,” said Trevor Fischbach, President of StarChase. “You’ve got felony warrant suspects. You’ve got firearms. You’ve got children.”

Fischbach’s company began making the technology available to law enforcement agencies in 2014.

Arizona Highway Patrol was the first agency with a tracking tag on record.

A decade later, it’s being used by hundreds of law enforcement agencies in more than 40 states across the country.

Massachusetts State Police is the first state police agency in New England to begin using the technology as a de-escalation tool.

The goal is to avoid high-speed chases and decrease the danger when pursuing criminals.

“It is proving to be a very important tool to the fight,” said Fischbach. “To the fight, I mean saving lives, even the suspects and the officers and the community at large are definitely benefitting.”

The devices have been installed on 30 Massachusetts State Police cruisers and deployed 50 times since May.

The agency currently has a 75 percent success rate with the technology.

“StarChase is an amazing de-escalation tool that allows us to accomplish our public safety mission in a safer way by preventing high speed chases,” said MSP spokesman Timothy McGuirk.

Massachusetts State Police is hoping to expand on the technology in the future.

Fischbach told Boston 25 News that it costs about $6,000 per cruiser to get upfitted with the technology and an annual recurring fee of about $1,500 per cruiser.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW

©2024 Cox Media Group