Anyone doubting the power of technology need only have been on city streets Wednesday as the area’s Automated License Plate Readers and LoJack systems kicked in with a vengeance.
The devices send signals to monitoring agencies whenever an equipped or registered vehicle passes an ALPR site – relaying the target vehicle’s position to interested law enforcement agencies.
Danville police arrested an allegedly prolific burglar in their city after a target vehicle triggered an alert Wednesday afternoon, linking the unnamed suspect to other crimes in other areas. He was reportedly in possession of a chemical agent at the time of his arrest.
Later, at around 5 p.m., a white Chrysler equipped with a LoJack tracking system triggered an alert to Lafayette police as it cruised down Mount Diablo Boulevard.
Police moved into the area of Mount Diablo and Moraga Road in an effort to locate the car and eventually found it, parked, in the parking lot at the Lafayette United Methodist Church in the 900 block of Moraga Road.
Commuters on the road at that time were treated to the site of a robust police response at the church, with police vehicles parking on Moraga Road as officers moved in.
One man was eventually taken into custody. The Chrysler had been reported stolen earlier in another jurisdiction.
