HEALDSBURG, CA — A man asked a Healdsburg police officer for the time while officers watched a stolen Mini Cooper. The conversation ended with more than a time check: Police arrested the man who was suspected of stealing the car from Santa Rosa.
The encounter followed an alert from a Flock Automated License Plate Reader surveillance camera at about 8:22 a.m. on Wednesday. The system alerted Healdsburg police to a stolen vehicle entering city limits.
An officer spotted the Mini Cooper crossing Memorial Bridge, but the driver was gone before the officer could turn around.
Officers later found the car parked and unoccupied near the Safeway Shopping Center.
Officers watched the car to see whether the driver would return, according to Healdsburg police.
While they waited, a man matching the driver's description walked up to an officer and asked for the time.
The officer engaged him in conversation, and the man then asked whether the officer was looking for somebody.
The man said he was from Santa Rosa and had parked his vehicle down the street, according to Healdsburg police.
When the officer asked what kind of vehicle he drove, the man briefly hesitated before identifying a Mini Cooper, police said.
Healdsburg police arrested him.
Police said he told officers that he drove the car to Healdsburg from Santa Rosa.
Officers arrested the man and booked him into the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility on suspicion of motor vehicle theft.
Police returned the Mini Cooper to the owner.
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