Drones help Louisville police arrest 5 people in connection to stolen car ring

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Five people were arrested after Louisville police busted a stolen car ring with the help of technology.

Louisville Metro Police announced the arrests of five people in an alleged stolen car ring over the past month during the department's bi-weekly news conference on Wednesday.

Four 18-year-olds were arrested: Marc Hernandez, Bobby Hatton, Darius Lewis and Omar Cothran. Crystal Meredith, 43, was also arrested. All five people were charged with various crimes in connection to several car thefts in and around Louisville.

LMPD said Hernandez, Hatton, and Meredith are all charged with criminal syndication for stealing at least four cars from Sept. 19 to Nov. 17, 2025.

According to court documents, Meredith — who is the mother of Hernandez — and the others would take the stolen cars to her house. Meredith would allegedly follow the cars closely during transport, taking the others involved back to her house.

Meredith pled guilty earlier this year to evading police for her involvement of assisting her son and others from escaping apprehension by police, court documents said.

LMPD said the assistance of its drone unit made many of these arrests possible. The drone has a thermal camera, so everything that produces heat stands out. It was able to spot the suspects and direct officers toward them.

"We're talking about how much more effective we are through collaboration with both technology and the patrol officers on the street," LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey said.

While thefts from cars are still an issue, LMPD said auto thefts themselves have gone down almost 20%.

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