A car thief hoping to thwart authorities by listening to a police scanner wasn’t clever enough to avoid capture.
According to the Anchorage Police Department, an officer saw a Silver Chevy Malibu that had been reported stolen Jan. 19 driving north on Strawberry Road. Police responded and pulled the car over near the intersection of Minnesota Drive and Tudor Road.
The sole occupant and driver was identified by police as 21-year-old Joel Gould, who was arrested and found with methamphetamine.
APD said when officers initially pulled Gould over, the car was blocking a lane of traffic on Minnesota. After Gould’s arrest, an officer got in to move it off of the roadway when he heard APD’s scanner traffic being broadcast from the car speakers.
A cell phone was plugged into the speaker system and was broadcasting the police call that had alerted police to the stolen Chevy Malibu, slowed by the public scanner delay.
Gould was taken to the Anchorage Jail and charged with vehicle theft and misconduct involving a controlled substance.
The stolen vehicle was returned to the owner.
