Man Arrested After GCPD Plate Reader Registers Stolen Tag Alert

A Flowery Branch man had a difficult time trying to explain to a Gwinnett County Police officer how a tag registered to a gray Toyota Avalon ended up on his maroon Dodge Dakota pickup.

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A GCPD officer was patrolling near the Mall of Georgia on April 5 when the license plate reader in the patrol car registered a stolen license plate alert. The officer followed the pickup truck on which the tag was displayed onto I-85 northbound.

"The driver made multiple lane changes while on I-85," the officer wrote in the arrest report. "The driver continually attempted to position another motorist between my vehicle and his."

The vehicle, driven by Brain Reeves, 34, of Flowery Branch, exited at Hamilton Mill Road and turned left. The officer followed and initiated a traffic stop near the intersection of Hamilton Mill Road and Sardis Church Road.

According to the report, the officer approached the Reeves and asked for his license.

"He opened up his wallet and I saw an empty space where the wallet had been designed to hold an ID or license," the officer noted. "The driver began fumbling through his credit cards as if to look for a license."

As Reeves searched for his license, the officer asked about the tag.

"The driver immediately stopped fumbling through his wallet and looked straight ahead. I observed the driver deeply swallow, watching his 'Adam's Apple' move," the officer wrote.

Read more on Buford Patch.

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