Cape Town - Police in Cape Town have remanded a man into custody for failing to disclose that he had recovered his stolen vehicle.
The City of Cape Town’s new highway patrol unit arrested the man on the N2 between Jan Smuts Drive and Bhunga Avenue on Wednesday afternoon, when officers flagged his Toyota Quantum as a possibly stolen vehicle.
According to the City of Cape Town, the arrest was made possible using automated licence plate recognition technology.
Safety and Security Mayco member JP Smith said the vehicle was stopped and further tests were conducted to confirm the information.
Smith said that after the suspect was apprehended, he was transported to Athlone police station where a detective confirmed that he was the registered owner of the vehicle.
“The suspected had reported the vehicle stolen in July 2022, but never advised SAPS that his car was recovered. Since this is still an active case, he will remain in custody until the matter is resolved.”
Smith said: “Technology has always shown its value along with enforcement agencies around the world. With the City making big inroads in integrating technology into its computer-aided dispatching and resource management platform, this trial project is already yielding excellent results.”
"We have come a long way down this road, but our journey is still far from over. ANPR technology will soon allow us to detect cloned number plates, and fake number plates automatically.
“It will alert us to those vehicles that have accumulated unpaid traffic fines or that are driven by owners with outstanding warrants of arrest. This is now another valuable tool we can add to our arsenal of crime-fighting abilities," Smith said.