SANTA ANA : Judge Upholds Use of Tracking Device

A federal judge Tuesday upheld police use of a sophisticated electronic tracking device in the arrest of a bank robbery suspect.

U.S. District Judge J. Spencer Letts held that there was no sign that use of the device by officers violated the rights of Glenn Alexander Montgomery of Chino Hills, who is awaiting trial on bank robbery charges stemming from a Dec. 22 holdup at a Bank of America branch in Fullerton.

Although officers were led to the suspect by signals from a tracking device dropped in the stolen money, Letts said officers had wide leeway under the law to stop Montgomery at a Brea intersection.

The judge made his ruling in rejecting arguments of Montgomery’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Joan Freeman, that the use of the tracking device should be excluded as evidence in the case. She alleged that the device’s reliability is unproven and that the arrest was illegal because officers could not pinpoint the signals to a particular vehicle.

Fullerton Police Officer Wolfgang Kirst testified that he pulled his patrol car in front of four cars at the intersection after following the tracking signals, but soon centered on Montgomery as the suspect.

Letts ruled that there is no indication that the device malfunctioned and that “the evidence does not persuade me” that the officer’s actions in stopping Montgomery were illegal.

The case is scheduled for trial March 13. Freeman said she may seek an appeal of Lett’s ruling.