The search for a stolen vehicle ended Wednesday evening with the arrest of Novato man Michael Perrin on multiple charges including drug violations, according to a Novato Police Department press release by Corporal Chris Jacob.
Before noon on Wednesday, a Novato resident living in the 200 block of Marin Valley Drive reported that her car had been stolen, recounted Jacob.
Cameras mounted on top of police cars allow the License plate recognition system to recognize plates.
NPD officers tracked the vehicle using automated license plate recognition. The Vigilant Solutions ALPR system uses cameras mounted on patrol cars to focus on license plates and identify cars that have been stolen or may have been involved in other crimes. The plates that the cameras read are checked against a database and patrol officers are alerted if a match is found. NPD began to use such technology in August of 2012, according to ABC Local.
An NPD officer located the stolen car in the 900 block of Diablo Avenue and pulled the suspect, 38-year-old Perrin, over at approximately 8:15 p.m. The officer was able to make contact with Perrin on the Delong Avenue onramp to southbound 101.
Jacob classified the traffic stop as “high-risk” because of the “level of caution” involved in stopping a vehicle that has already been associated with a crime, as opposed to a routine traffic stop involving a moving violation or similar precipitating event.
The system inside the patrol car helps police identify stolen cars or other wanted vehicles.
Canine officer Metz, who has been trained for and specializes in drug detection, accompanied the human officer and detected illicit narcotics in the car.
Officers ultimately arrested Perrin for possession of a stolen vehicle, being under the influence of a controlled substance, possession of controlled substances and driving with a suspended driver’s license.
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