A car stolen in Brookhaven could be in the south Jackson area, based on information the car’s owner determined by tracking her cell phone, which was left in the vehicle at the time of its theft.

Car owner Andrea Arnold reported her white 2013 Honda Accord stolen at 5:15 p.m. Friday, according to Lt. David Johnson of the Brookhaven Police Department. Since then, Arnold was able to use her phone’s GPS service to locate her phone, according to Johnson, who is in charge of the investigation.

After receiving the information Arnold obtained by tracking her phone, Johnson immediately called the Jackson Police Department to give them the phone’s likely location. It’s unclear whether or not the phone is still in the stolen vehicle, however.

As of Saturday night, the Brookhaven Police Department had not heard back from the JPD after multiple attempts to obtain information, said Johnson.

According to the local police report, Arnold left the keys in the car temporarily as she met with her babysitter. Arnold was in the house at 1316 Field Lark Lane for less than five minutes, said Johnson.

A .380-caliber pistol was in the car at the time of the vehicle’s theft, according to the police report. Perhaps most importantly, though, was fact that the car also contained the phone that was capable of being tracked by GPS.

“As soon as we heard about the stolen vehicle, protocol dictates that we enter the information into the crime database system, which will automatically alert any agency that the vehicle is stolen,” said Johnson.

The vehicle was stolen at the same time that Brookhaven High School’s Homecoming was going on. Johnson says this didn’t affect the police response time since off-duty officers are utilized in these occasions.