Historical LPR Data Aids Coral Springs in Locating Hit-and-Run Vehicle

LIVERMORE, Calif., March 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Vigilant Solutions announces today that the Coral Springs Police Department used commercially generated and historical license plate reader (LPR) data, available through its LEARN® software, to locate an out-of-state vehicle with an expired registration that was involved in a hit-and-run collision.

Officer Rich Best of the Coral Springs Police Department explains, "We received a phone call from someone who had just observed a woman crash into his parked car.  The woman stopped, and the two had a very brief conversation until he insisted on calling the police.  She then quickly fled the scene and drove over a median in the process.  I arrived on the scene approximately ten minutes after receiving the initial dispatch call.  The victim was able to quickly snap a photo of the back of her vehicle with his cell phone.  It was easy for me to see from the photo that the vehicle was a silver Audi A6 and had a Texas license plate attached.  A records check determined the Texas tag was expired, assigned to a Honda, and registered out of New York to another individual.  Based on this information, it was my belief that the investigation could possibly go unsolved due to a variety of issues and challenges the Traffic Investigator would face.  Unfortunately and as a result, it was also likely that the victim and/or his insurance company would have to incur the loss.

I decided to give the LEARN database a shot.  After logging in, I was pleasantly surprised to see the Texas license plate had been scanned on multiple occasions over the past four months in a nearby apartment complex.  I verified the images and confirmed it was the same vehicle and same tag.  Because of this data, we were able to locate the vehicle at the apartment complex within one hour of my arriving at the crash location.  After speaking with neighbors in three different buildings, the investigation led to locating and identifying the driver of the vehicle, who was hiding in a rear bedroom of one of the apartments.  The same driver ultimately ended up providing a confession to her actions and was subsequently arrested and charged with several crimes (leaving the scene of a crash resulting in property damage, utilizing a tag not assigned to her vehicle, driving with an expired driver's license, and not having any proof of insurance). 

Additionally, the victim ended up positively identifying the person as the driver of the vehicle.  We were fortunate to have some great resources at our disposal and were fortunate everything worked out in this case.  The victim was completely shocked and could not believe in less than two hours after calling the Police Department, the hit and run vehicle was located and the driver was located, identified, and arrested.  In fact, the victim stated, 'this is something you'd see on TV or in a movie'."

Officer Best went on to say "the Vigilant system and the data available are a tremendous resource and have proven to be helpful in solving crimes that could possibly go unsolved or take greater lengths and time to solve.  Like our Detectives who used the systems a couple of years ago to locate a missing woman who was near death, I am a firm believer in the power of the system.  It solves crimes and saves lives."

About Vigilant Solutions:

Based in Livermore, California, Vigilant Solutions is an industry-leading pioneer of innovative intelligence solutions that help law enforcement protect officers, families and communities.  For additional information, visit www.vigilantsolutions.com.

Editorial contact:

Brian Shockley, +1 (925) 398-2079 ext 731, [email protected]

SOURCE Vigilant Solutions

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