MESA, Ariz. — Mesa police detained the occupants of a stolen vehicle Wednesday afternoon by deploying a "grappler" net that clung onto the fleeing car.
The stolen car was detected by a license plate reader stationed near Country Club Drive and Hampton Avenue and the information alerted officers working in Mesa's new real-time crime center.
The city decided last year to spend COVID-19 relief funds on developing a crime center that could centralize Mesa's surveillance cameras into one place.
Officers in the crime center checked the car's registration and verified it had been reported stolen. That information was relayed to patrol officers out in the field who then attempted to locate the vehicle.
Patrol officers tried trapping the car within a Home Depot parking lot but the suspects managed to break through the barrier, police said.
An unmarked police car proceeded to chase the vehicle along Country Club Drive and deployed a grappler device to safely stop the fleeing car.
Grappler nets are used by multiple Valley police agencies to wrap around the rear tire of a vehicle attempting to evade police.
That causes the rear wheels to freeze, stopping the vehicle in its tracks. A tether then extends from the patrol car like a lasso, keeping the fleeing vehicle attached.
Mesa police said officers additionally deployed a beanbag gun at the suspects and one of them was hit, resulting in them going to the hospital.
A total of four people were detained from the stolen car. Two of them were released from custody after they were interviewed by police.
The car's driver, identified as Joshua Towler, was booked into jail on a charge of vehicle theft. Towler told investigators the car was registered under his ex-girlfriend's name and claimed to not have known it was reported stolen, court records show.
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