Woman Accused Of Stealing Car From Lawrenceville Gas Station

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — Gwinnett County Police found a stolen car and arrested the accused car thief within an hour of the car being stolen, police said Thursday.

Officers responded around 2 p.m., June 29, to a stolen motor vehicle call at a Duluth Highway gas station. The owner of the car told officers he parked his 2009 Mercedes E350 next to a gas pump and went inside of the store. Police said the man did not know his license plate number or VIN.

To identify the tag number, a civilian analyst with the Situational Awareness and Crime Response Center used a database to locate the number. Police said the analyst began utilizing the surrounding Flock cameras in an attempt to locate the man’s stolen car.

A nearby officer located the unoccupied Mercedes in the left lane of State Road 316 near the Buford Drive overpass, police said. The analyst reviewed the Department of Transportation’s cameras to find someone in the area of the recovered vehicle.

Police said a suspect was found near Buford Drive and Lendon Lane, matching the same description from the theft, and arrested the person by 3 p.m. that same day.

Police identified the suspect as Kattie Chantel McCoy, 33, of South Carolina. She was charged on suspicion of theft by taking, police said.

"The Situational Awareness and Crime Response Center has been invaluable to our patrol officers and detectives. They are able to provide real-time updates to the officers who are investigating crimes," police said in a news release.