“Single Digit” License Plate Break Leads To Arrests, Tie To Lafayette Burglaries

Lafayette police, looking to solve a flurry of burglaries in their town Monday, were led to a suspect car believed used in the crimes by a citizen who remembered a single digit on a speeding car’s license plate.

That lead enabled investigators canvassing the neighborhoods where the crimes occurred to pinpoint home surveillance video of a car matching the type and with the corresponding digit in place.

A records check of the vehicle identified the registered owner of the vehicle had an active arrest warrant, for burglary. Investigators ultimately located video they said tied the vehicle to the neighborhoods of both Lafayette burglaries.

On Thursday, sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a residential burglary in progress in Discovery Bay when a neighbor called to report he could see two subjects breaking into a home. Deputies were able to locate the two male and one female suspect and all three were arrested. The vehicle was impounded – the same vehicle that had been seen by the witness in Lafayette and captured on several camera systems, according to investigators.

Lafayette police say they were able to locate several items of property from one of the Lafayette burglaries in the vehicle stopped in Discovery Bay. One of the residents of the burglarized home identified the property as having come from their home.

Police are asking neighbors in the Las Huertas and Stanley neighborhoods to further check their security camera systems to see if they can find images of the suspect vehicle. The vehicle left the Las Huertas Neighborhood at 1:45 p.m. The vehicle entered the Stanley Neighborhood at approximately 1:55 p.m. Residents who may have seen the vehicle or the suspects in the neighborhood are asked to contact investigators using the tip line at 94549tip@gmail.com.