Meet the newest unit of the Herndon Police traffic enforcement team: a seized 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse.
The car, which was free except for $400 budgeted for the police detailing, was seized two years ago but finally released to the police a few months ago after final judgments in the case it was related to were issued.
"A lot of people see it as a race car," said Herndon Police public information officer, Sgt. Jerry Keys. "What's important is this was a seized car out of a situation, if it had been a Chevy Malibu, then we would have gotten a Malibu, we didn't pick the car."
Keys said the car belonged to a resident of Herndon who was arrested for abducting a then 13-year-old girl.
The 43-year-old man, Scott Tyree, had met the young girl over the Internet and had driven to Pennsylvania to pick up the girl and brought her back to his Herndon home, where he held her against her will.
Keys said because Tyree had crossed state lines, the case became a federal investigation, though the Herndon Police Department's investigators spent much time and energy looking into the case.
Keys said during the arrest the car was still Tyree's, but after the judgment and the appeals process the federal government seized the car. Once that happened, Keys said the Herndon Police Department evaluated how much time and money was put into the case by the town's investigators, and based on what they put in, the government turned the car over to the department a few months ago.
Tyree is currently serving an almost 20-year sentence for the abduction, and the little girl was safely returned to her family.
Tyree's car was added to the traffic enforcement team for many reasons, though Keys emphasized its speed was not one of them.
"We don't have a need for a chase car ... people aren't running from us," said Keys. "The big thing is the shape, if it's behind somebody it does not look like the square Crown Victorias ... the big thing is for us to do something about traffic enforcement."
Keys said because the car is not the routine police car shape and does not have the overhead lighting, people will have a harder time identifying it at first, even with the police detailing.
"The shape and the cost of this car is very nice," said Keys of the almost free vehicle. "I think a lot of people that do look in their mirrors for a police car are going to be blinded because they don't see it as a police car."
Keys said the car's shape will work to their advantage, even after it's been with the department for a while. "I think this car here ... eventually people are going to say 'wait a minute there's a Mitsubishi behind me' and slow down," said Keys, adding the purpose isn't to trick people. "The big thing is the ability for us to do something about traffic enforcement."
<1b>— Brynn Grimley