Prospect — Prospect Police officials told the City Council on Monday that investigators are tracking multiple organized groups responsible for residential vehicle break-ins and serial shoplifting across the region.

Chief Tony (identified in the meeting as the city’s police chief) described a late-night incident in Honey Creek Estates in which officers observed a vehicle moving through neighborhoods without lights and suspects fleeing at high speed. "They operate really quickly," he said, summarizing how the crews move between neighborhoods and commit multiple thefts in narrow time windows.

Police said one patrol officer observed a suspicious vehicle around 2:59 a.m., followed the vehicle as it moved through neighborhoods and later spotted the same vehicle on a nearby road. Officers did not locate occupants at the time but later found two vehicles in which items were missing or that were damaged. Investigators used video and flight-camera time stamps to map suspect movements.

Separately, officers are working a cluster of retail-theft cases tied to repeat offenders. The department said losses from several occasions were aggregated and in at least one case prosecutors were presented aggregated charges that met felony thresholds. As the department explained, Kentucky law allows prosecutors to aggregate repeated thefts within a statutory period to reach felony-level thresholds; follow-through requires criminal filings and court proceedings and can take more than a year.

Chief Tony and the investigator who spoke emphasized continued coordination with Louisville Metro and federal information-sharing platforms. The police chief said the department has identified suspects on many cases and is preparing files for prosecutors; whether prosecutors accept particular cases remains a prosecutorial decision.

The police report also included a note of appreciation for late-shift officers and surveillance-camera systems that helped detect suspect entry times.