Technology Helps Novato Police Return Stolen Vehicle To Owner

NOVATO, CA — Technology came in handy for Novato police Tuesday, enabling them to locate and return a stolen vehicle to its owner — hours after it was reported stolen, police said.

Upon receiving a report Tuesday that the vehicle had been stolen within the last few days from the area of Lark Court, Novato police officers accessed the Automated License Plate Reader database.

The Novato Police Department has six patrol vehicles equipped with ALPRs, which recognize license plates previously entered into the database and gather valuable information to assist with such investigations.

The database revealed that the license plate of the vehicle in question had been scanned early Tuesday morning.

Officers searched the area where the vehicle had been scanned and at 6:45 p.m., they located it, parked and unoccupied, in the area of Redwood Boulevard and Larch Drive, according to Officer Zolli.

The vehicle was then released to its owner.

Image via Highway Patrol Images, Wikimedia, used under Creative Commons