Teen Arrested After Stolen Car Stopped By Police

A stolen car was stopped by police after its movements were tracked across two counties.

The car was stolen from an address in Grange Avenue, Mansfield, in the early hours of Monday morning. 

A report was made to police and the car’s details were uploaded to a shared police database.

It was later caught on several automatic number plate recognition cameras as it was driven around areas of South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. 

Shortly after 7pm yesterday (Tuesday) the vehicle was spotted again by officers on patrol in the Warsop area and brought to a stop in nearby Robin Hood Avenue. 

A 17-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of burglary and theft. He remains in police custody. 

Automatic number plate recognition cameras constantly check vehicles’ details against information contained on a national police computer system.

Vehicles that are marked as stolen or otherwise involved in crime can be tracked in real time or retrospectively during investigations. 

Some cameras are in fixed locations, whilst others are fitted to police cars. 

Thanks to recent funding boost from the Government’s national Safer Streets Fund, significant improvements have recently been made to the fixed system in the Mansfield area. 

Detective Sergeant Gary Hewson, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was a great result that shows just how important modern technology can be in detecting crime. Thanks to some excellent teamwork between the roads policing team and our control room we were very quickly able to track down this vehicle and detain a suspect. Our investigation continues.”