A San Mateo police officer earned the “Best Arrest Award” for the fourth quarter of 2021 after cleverly catching an alleged stalker who had reportedly been placing tracking devices on his ex-girlfriend’s car.
Long story short, Officer Frederik Degenhardt would eventually take the tracking device off the victim’s vehicle and place it onto his patrol car in order to lure the suspect, leading to his arrest, police said.
Officers were first dispatched in September to investigate the alleged stalking case. Degenhardt, however, first met the victim on Oct. 13 and was told by the victim that her former boyfriend had made unlawful entry to her apartment, had shown up at her job, and frequently knew where she was, police said.
The victim had found a GPS tracker attached to her car, police said.
On Nov. 9, officers found the suspect within 100 yards of her home and took him into custody. A search of his car yielded several large knives, about 50 grams of methamphetamine, drug paraphanalia and the victim’s cellphone, wallet, checkbook and house keys, police said.
One week later, however, the victim contacted Officer Degenhardt to say the suspect was still stalking her, noting she had received texts from the suspect and had found another tracking device on her car, police said.
“Officer Degenhardt placed the tracker on his patrol vehicle and drove to a downtown parking garage,” police said. “A short time later, the suspect parked near the patrol car and Officer Degenhardt took him into custody again.”
Photos courtesy of the San Mateo Police Department
