GPS Tracking

GPS Tracking Device Used to Track Down Weapons Smugglers

An 18-year-old man could potentially face up to 20 years in prison for attempting to smuggle firearms and ammunition from North Carolina to Mexico. Law enforcement officials were able to stop Javier Molina on Interstate 10 in Jackson County, Mississippi, after determining his location with a GPS tracker that they fitted onto the black pickup truck that he was driving.

According to court records, police found 22 weapons, 902 rounds of ammunition, 16 magazines, five shotgun barrels, six gun stocks, four 12-gauge barrels and two scopes stashed in the truck.

Court documents show that a Homeland Security Investigations agent had been tracking the 1994 Ford Ranger since Molina’s uncle, Jose Luis Santos-Garcia, had been pulled over in the same pickup truck a couple of months prior to the incident in Jackson County. Santos-Garcia has been charged with attempting to smuggle two pistols, three bullet-proof vests and two stolen four-wheelers to Mexico.

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DOJ Claims that Warranted Cell Phone Tracking Would Hinder Its Efforts

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement officials would be required to obtain an official court-issued warrant before attaching a GPS tracking device on a suspect’s vehicle. This decision came in response to a case involving a Washington, D.C. night club owner who was initially convicted of drug dealing. The initial ruling, however, was later overturned in an appellate court after it determined that the prolonged unwarranted use of the GPS tracking device that law enforcement officials placed on the suspect’s Jeep even though the evidence obtained from the GPS tracker clearly indicated he was involved in illegal narcotics distribution.

The controversial case made its way to the Supreme Court, where all 9 Justices unanimously agreed that the suspect’s Constitutional right to privacy, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, were violated. Privacy advocates praised the decision as a huge win for individual rights. However, law enforcement agencies, such as the FBI, found the ruling to be a significant obstacle for investigative and surveillance purposes.

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Patient is Reported Missing in Nova Scotia and Could Pose a Threat to Herself and the Public

Amy Ogilvie, a patient at the East Coast Forensic Hospital in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (Canada), went missing on Friday night after having been out on a pass. She was scheduled to return to the hospital on Friday evening, but did not show up, and doctors are concerned that Ogilvie may pose a threat to herself and others while away from treatment.

The hospital, however, did not notify the public until 72 hours after she was discovered missing. According to hospital director Dr. Scott Theriault, “The hospital protocol is that we notify the public after 72 hours. That is a balance we strike because on the one hand, most of the patients return long before that period of time.”

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“Gift Wrapping” Your Car

All of us have done this before: we make a quick pit stop at the gas station or a road-side convenience store, or to drop something off while leaving our car engines running. We tell ourselves, “It’ll just take a few seconds, so no need to go through the hassle of turn the car off…” And so we quickly bolt out of our cars with the keys in the ignition, engine running and doors unlocked to quickly take care of whatever it is that we need to, thinking that our cars are safe and that no one will take our cars.

But then we come back only to find that our cars gone. In what seemed to be just a matter of seconds, someone has stolen our cars. And although the truth of the matter is that a terrible crime has been committed, the reality is, we “gift-wrapped” our cars when we chose to leave it unattended with the engine running and the doors unlocked.

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Balloons Equipped with GPS Tracking Devices Looking to Provide Some “Good News”

Recently, North Korea has been receiving a lot of attention here in the United States due to their aggressive stance on developing and testing nuclear weapons. The country’s long-standing and iconic dictator, Kim Jong-il has been known to threaten South Korean and the US on numerous occasions with long-range nuclear missiles. And in doing so, he placed the North in an extremely hostile position against the rest of the world.

And now with the passing of Kim Jong-il in December of 2011 and the recent succession of his son, Kim Jong-un, many thought that this would be an opportunity to bring about some political resolution and peace between North Korea and the rest of the world. However, with the events that have occurred during the past couple of months, it looks like Kim Jong-un has adopted his father’s political philosophy and ideology.

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Solid Signal Takes the SilverCloud Out for a Test-Drive

Solid Signal is an online retailer that specializes in providing high-quality, name-brand, digital audio and video equipment, as well as relevant and informative product research and guidance to professional media installers and tech-savvy consumers. Essentially, Solid Signal does the hard work of researching and testing out various consumer products to help customers determine which ones work best for them. They also provide sound advice on what equipment is needed for optimum audio and video performance.

Recently, Stuart Sweet from Solid Signal tested one of LandAirSea’s SilverCloud real-time GPS tracking systems, and wrote a 4-part series describing the various features offered by the SilverCloud system and to help consumers an in-depth look at what it has to offer. And after taking the device out for a test-drive by attaching it to a friend’s car, here are some of the things he had to say about the SilverCloud GPS tracking system:

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It’s the Stuff of Movies

Marianna Maddalena is the producer of the wildly popular horror movie, “Scream  2.” The movie, based partly on the real-life case of the Gainesville Ripper, is most recognized for its villain, who wears a signature white mask with a distinctly elongated mouth. The “Scream” movies have been credited with revitalizing the horror genre on the big screen during the 1990′s, which saw the vast majority going straight to video.

And now it looks as if Maddalena has become a victim of stalking, according to a recent report from TMZ. The film producer says that she was stalked for six roughly months by a man that she hired to work on her house.

According to sources who informed TMZ, Maddalena, who is Wes Craven’s producing partner, hired a contractor named Derrick Toole in the Fall of 2010 to perform some construction work on her home in Los Angeles. However, Maddalena claims that the contractor did a whole lot more than that.

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An Unfortunate Turn of Events for CJR at Kingsport

Unlike the scene at most short tracks on the UARA-STARS circuit, numerous cautions did not surface at Kingsport Speedway on Friday night during the 150-lap main event. Mooresville, North Carolina native Cory Joyce utilized his short track racing experience and cleanly raced his way into the top-10 with the checkered flag in sight.

Though the majority of the evening wasn’t filled with cautions, a tangle between teammates in turn three with less than 10 laps to go left a blocked race track and produced damage to the front of the No. 20 LandAirSea Chevy Impala. The result was a broken radiator and a 16th place finish for Joyce.

Rolling off 11th, Joyce slid back at the beginning of the night and clicked off laps in a comfortable position, hoping to avoid traffic and trouble. Long green flag runs helped Joyce pick his way through the traffic to get back towards the front and he soon found himself back within striking distance inside the top-10.

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Back to Short Track at Kingsport

Returning to UARA-STARS competition this weekend at Kingsport Speedway in Kingsport, Tennessee, rookie contender Cory Joyce is looking for redemption after a bout of bad luck in the first three races of the season. Generating solid runs in all of the events thus far this season, unfortunate circumstances have hindered the 20-year-old from posting a finish that reflected his performance. The Cory Joyce Racing team hopes that the fresh venue on the recently re-opened Kingsport Speedway is just the place to turn the season around.

“We really don’t have the finishes to show for how hard we’ve worked and the fast car we’ve had,” Joyce said. “Anything can happen on a short track like Kingsport, but hopefully we can qualify towards the front and stay out of trouble.”

The Cory Joyce Racing team has had a few weeks to regroup from Rockingham and used the time off to their advantage. Though Joyce has not visited the concrete .375-mile oval prior to this weekend, he will carry a wealth of short-track knowledge into Friday night’s event.

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Suspected Cigarette Thief Chooses to Represent Himself

Keith Lamont Hill, 55, who was a suspect in a string of regional cigarette thefts, was convicted in a jury trial on Tuesday in Rustburg, Virginia. What makes this case apart from a normal burglary/theft case is the fact that Hill chose to represent himself rather than having a lawyer represent him.

Hill has also been charged for cigarette theft in 3 other counties – Botetourt, Franklin and Campbell counties and the cities of Salem and Lynchburg – and in each case he has chosen to represent himself. And as of Tuesday’s ruling, in he now stands convicted in all but Lynchburg.

Hill’s case is drawing even more attention due to the fact that in 2010 law enforcement officials attached an unwarranted GPS tracking device on his personal vehicle in order to monitor his movements. The ruling against Hill is significant in this case, because of a landmark Supreme Court case, involving the prolonged use of unwarranted GPS tracking technology to monitor  a suspected drug dealer in the Washington, D.C. area. The Justices agreed that utilizing such a device without an official court issued warrant, violates an individual’s Constitutional rights, which protects against unreasonable search and seizures.

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