Stolen Dodge Durango's GPS tracker lands thief 9 years in prison

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A stolen Dodge Durango’s GPS pinged its exact spot in a Best Buy lot.

Officers staked out the SUV and simply waited for the driver to appear.

He allegedly spotted the police, ran, and left three of them injured in a scuffle.

The Crystal Lake incident is a reminder that stealing a car and slipping away clean has gotten much harder, thanks to the advanced security and GPS tracking now built into so many new vehicles. A man from Monroe Center, Illinois, learned that lesson in the most expensive way possible, and he’ll spend the next nine years in prison as a result.

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The trouble started on May 24, 2025, when the Crystal Lake Police Department received an alert flagging the location of a stolen 2025 Dodge Durango. The SUV’s built-in GPS did most of the work, leading officers straight to a Best Buy parking lot in Crystal Lake, where they found the Durango sitting with a woman in the passenger seat.

As officers waited near the Durango for the driver to return, Wayne Mikulski walked out of the store and made his way toward the stolen SUV. He spotted the police almost immediately and tried to flee on foot, though he didn’t get far. The 46-year-old was taken into custody after a struggle that allegedly left three officers injured.

Read: Man Recovers His Stolen Rolls-Royce Dawn Thanks To Its Built In Kill Switch And GPS Tracker

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Beyond allegedly being caught with the stolen vehicle, police say Mikulski was also carrying several credit cards that didn’t belong to him, along with a quantity of methamphetamine.

Not His First Brush With The Law

Rather than take his chances at trial, Mikulski reached a plea agreement with the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office, pleading guilty to possession of a stolen vehicle in exchange for having the lesser charges dropped. He was sentenced last week to nine years in prison, according to WIFR .

The conviction adds to an already lengthy record. Mikulski is currently serving a sentence of more than eight years for aggravated fleeing to elude, forgery, and mail fraud, on top of separate terms for identity theft, another aggravated fleeing to elude charge in Ogle County, and a burglary in Cook County.

After the sentencing, McHenry County State’s Attorney Randi Freese noted that “today’s technology make it far more likely they will be found, arrested, and prosecuted.” She also credited the Crystal Lake Police Department and the Chicago Police Department for their coordinated efforts in locating the stolen vehicle and apprehending the suspect.

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Photos Stellantis / Dodge