License plate reader helps police catch homicide suspect
DAYTON —Police said licenseplate reader technology helped officers track down a suspect in a deadly shooting in Dayton.
“It was very helpful. It needs to be highlighted — the effectiveness of the tool,” Lt. Steven Bauer of the Dayton Police Department said during a Wednesday afternoon media briefing.
“In this case, we (were) able to locate somebody who posed a very big danger to society and we were able to get him in custody very rapidly, before anyone else could be harmed,” Bauer said.
Dayton police responded around midnight Wednesday to the 1900 block of Shaftesbury Road on a report of a shooting.
A 33-year-old man who had been shot was pronounced dead at the scene, Bauer said.
The victim’s name has not been released.
A woman who called 911 told dispatchers her brother had been drinking and shot her other brother in the head, according to Montgomery County Regional Dispatch Center records.
“It wasn’t even an argument or nothing,” she said. “He just shot him in the head.”
Bauer said the suspect and victim knew each other but were not related.
After the shooting, the suspect fled the area and stole a vehicle, the lieutenant said.
“With the assistance of automated license-plate reader technology, officers located the suspect driving the vehicle a short time later and attempted a traffic stop,” Bauer said. “The suspect recklessly fled the traffic stop, endangering the community.”
The suspect reached speeds of approximately 100 mph during a subsequent police pursuit, Bauer said.
Police used tire deflation devices and were able to get the suspect to stop with officers using precision immobilization technique maneuvers. The suspect was arrested without further incident, Bauer said.
Dispatch logs indicated the suspect was in custody at 12:31 a.m., approximately half an hour after police responded to the shooting.
The suspect was booked into the Montgomery County Jail on a preliminary murder charge.
The shooting remains under investigation by homicide detectives.