How valuable are police car-controlled license plate readers?
Last week, a driver with an active warrant for tampering with her ankle monitor, drove into Key Biscayne and was pulled over by Miami-Dade Police officers, who also discovered she had a suspended driver's license.
"The LPR (license plate reader) alerted (on) one of our cars," said Det. Chris Thomas with Miami-Dade Police Media Relations.
Tampering with a court-ordered ankle monitor is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in jail, not including fines.
"If you're being monitored for something, then you're tampering (with the monitor), it's ... any crime is serious," Det. Thomas said.
Mavica Mildred Rodriguez, 37, of Miami was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Jail.
The original charge Rodriguez faced in Miami was battery, stemming from a reported custody battle. That's what led to the electronic monitoring device.
"That (warrant) may have come from the City of Miami Police," Det. Thomas said.
Just last week, a 20-year-old fugitive on the run from Pennsylvania was apprehended after a stolen bicycle was reported, and Key Biscayne's police dispatch unit quickly revealed he had an active warrant for criminal homicide stemming from a shooting in New Castle, Pa.
