Channel 11 Exclusive: Brighton Heights man stopped by police 3 times after car was stolen

PITTSBURGH — Imagine coming out to your car in the morning to head to work, and your car is not sitting in your driveway because it was stolen. Once you get it back, you’re pulled over by police and held at gunpoint not once, but three times. That’s exactly what happened to a Brighton Heights man.

“I just had this traumatic experience of having my car stolen, and now I’m being arrested,” said Tim Penrod.

When Penrod couldn’t find his car, he checked his security system. His cameras captured two teenagers getting into his car and driving off in it.

“I saw the video,” said Penrod. “I’m like Cameron. There’s someone stealing my car at 3 o’clock in the morning. I don’t know what to do. What do I do?”

Penrod called OnStar. The company located his car in Uniontown, took control of the car and actually slowed it down to a stop in an alley. Uniontown police showed up and arrested 18-year-old Marquis Peeks, who they say was behind the wheel of the car, and charged him with receiving stolen property. Uniontown police say a juvenile seen in the back seat in the surveillance video won’t be charged.

The same day the car was stolen, Penrod picked it up in Uniontown and drove it back to Pittsburgh. One of the license plate readers he passed in Pittsburgh flagged his plate as stolen.

“The next thing I know, I have seven police officers pointing their guns at me,” said Penrod.

Penrod says they pulled him out of the car, threw him on the ground and handcuffed him.

“I saw them standing there, but never in a million years dawned on me that that’s what they were doing or that they were looking for me,” said Penrod.

After about 30 minutes, he says they let him go.

“The first time I was terrified,” said Penrod. “The second time I was upset.”

The second time, Pittsburgh police stopped him the next day on the North Side. Then, it happened a third time.

“The third time, I was livid,” said Penrod.

Penrod says he’s grateful for the technology, but wants an explanation for what seems like a breakdown in the system.

“If OnStar wouldn’t have recovered my vehicle, then at that moment my vehicle would have been recovered and Pittsburgh police would have done their job,” said Penrod. “I’m not ungrateful. I am grateful that they were able to do that, that the system is in place; that it actually worked.”

Channel 11 reached out to Uniontown police for more information. As part of a release, they said:

“At the time of the vehicle being located in the City of Uniontown the vehicle was not entered into NCIC. Uniontown City officers contacted Pittsburgh PD Zone 1 and advised them that the vehicle was recovered and that it was not entered into NCIC. Uniontown City Officers requested a Pittsburgh PD incident report to file the appropriate charges against PEEKS. This report was received in a timely manner. Furthermore, if the vehicle was entered into NCIC Uniontown City PD could not remove the NCIC entry. Any NCIC entry must be removed by the entering agency. Uniontown City Officers were unable to send a hit confirmation on this vehicle at the time of recovery through Fayette County 911 because it was not entered into NCIC.”

We also reached out Pittsburgh police. A spokesperson with the Department of Public Safety says they’re looking into this incident.

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