SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City police are urging drivers to know and check their license plates after a recent incident led to officers stopping innocent people over a possible stolen vehicle.
Last week, police saw a Nissan Maxima just west of Liberty Park that matched the same description of a car that had been stolen earlier in the day. When the officers ran the license plate through a national database, it came up as being stolen.
Police conducted a felony traffic stop and pulled over the Nissan, detaining the three people inside.
However, an investigation showed the Nissan's license had actually been stolen itself and replaced with stolen plates. The stolen plates on the Maxima matched a car with the same color, make and model, which caused the confusion.
“We’ve seen thieves swap out license plates to the same model of car, but the person who put the stolen license plate on the victim’s car had everything matching, including the color, make, model, and even the ‘In God We Trust’ license plate style,” said Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown. “We can only assume the person who illegally did so is now driving around with the victim’s legitimate license plate trying to avoid detection. Because of this, we’ve now entered that plate into our database as stolen.”
The driver of the Nissan, who legally owned the car, had no idea her own license plates had previously been replaced by a stolen version. Officers booked the stolen plates into evidence and advised the driver on what to do if they were stopped without any plate before it could be replaced.
Drivers should document their license plate numbers by taking a photo of it, and checking it regularly to make sure it is still valid.
