If you find police in your driveway looking at your car, it might be the beginning of a criminal case. Even if you were not aware of anything illegal that happened with your car, having your license plate number reported in connection with a crime could mean an investigation.
When police receive a tip that a car with a particular license plate number was involved in a crime, they will typically look up who the plate is registered to. This allows them to go look at the car, make contact with the owner, and ask about the crime. If they spot the car driving soon after it was reported, they might be pulled over. However, these cases can be complicated because they need to link the driver to the action, not just the car.
For help with your case, call the Law Offices of John J. Zarych’s NJ criminal defense lawyers today at (609) 616-4956.
Can You Be Pulled Over if Your License Plate is Reported?
Many traffic stops happen because a driver reported something another driver did. When they do this, they often provide a full or partial license plate number.
Types of Cases
This is typical for many kinds of cases, but is most common in
- Suspected DWI cases
- Reckless driving
- Road rage and potential vehicular assault
- Hit and runs.
Is the Report Enough Proof for a Traffic Stop?
A police officer can only initiate a traffic stop if they have reasonable suspicion that a crime was taking place or if they witness a traffic offense themselves, giving them probable cause for a ticket/arrest. Getting a secondhand report from another driver helps, but it is not always enough on its own.
The police officer typically must be able to verify something from the report before initiating a stop. For example, if the other driver reported that your car hit them, and you have matching damage, that might be enough to pull you over.
Can Police Investigate a Car After a Report?
If police receive a report about some kind of criminal activity connected to a vehicle, they can almost certainly use that to go take a look at the car, potentially starting a criminal investigation.
Looking up Owner Info
If a car is seen in public or reported in connection with a crime, police officers can typically “run the plate” and look up who owns it.
Irregularities
If police run a license plate and that comes up with irregularities, that might be enough to investigate further. For example, if the police hear a report about a black sedan with a particular license plate number and find that the plate belongs to your red SUV, they might investigate further, only to find that your plate was stolen and used on another vehicle.
Approaching the Vehicle
Police can look at a car that is in a public place or in an accessible driveway. They do not need a warrant to go looking in windows. However, they do need your permission or probable cause to search the vehicle.
Vehicles may also be towed if they are in illegal places or seem abandoned, potentially allowing the police to inventory the vehicle when they receive it. For example, if your car was stolen and found after the thief ditched it, the police might find your marijuana hidden in the glove box during such an inventory search.
Approaching the Owner
The police can approach you and ask you questions, as the owner of the vehicle, if they have reasonable suspicion to do so. If you approach them and ask why they are looking at your car, they can also continue asking you questions since you actually started the encounter.
Can Police Connect You to the Charges?
If the police are trying to charge you with a crime based on what was reported about your car, they need to actually connect the crime to you, personally, not just your car.
Loaned Vehicles
If you let someone else use your car, it is possible they were the one to commit a crime in your car. For example, if police are in your driveway because your car was used in a hit and run, it might turn out to be another member of your household who committed the act.
It is possible they could connect the crime to the actual driver or potentially charge you for your role in loaning the car to someone who committed a crime with it. Either way, your family will need an NJ criminal defense lawyer.
Identifying You as the Driver
Police need further evidence to connect you as the driver of the car who committed a crime. For example, security cameras or red light cameras might have caught you in the driver’s seat soon after the illegal act, or you might match the report’s description about the driver.
FAQs for License Plates Connected to a Crime in NJ
What if the License Plate Number was Reported Wrong?
Sometimes police investigate a car and its driver based on inaccurate reports. If we can provide a solid alibi, it is usually enough to stop charges.
There may also be problems with cameras and automated license plate scanners identifying numbers improperly, such as confusing Os and zeros. Similar issues happen all the time with eyewitnesses and even officers misidentifying letters and numbers on a plate.
Can You Challenge Identifications?
If the police are going to rely on security camera footage, red light camera pictures, or eyewitness identifications to put you in the driver’s seat of a car that committed a crime, they need to support those identifications. Our lawyers can also challenge the identification by pointing out problems with police procedures, as well as obvious problems with the identification, such as window tint, lighting conditions, and speed of the vehicles.
Is it a Defense if My Car Was Stolen?
If your car – or just your license plate – was stolen and used in the commission of a crime, this should not result in any criminal liability for you. You are a victim here, too, and our lawyers can help prove that. If you reported your car stolen as soon as you knew about it, that report can help shield you from anything that happened with the car after the theft.
However, if police find contraband in your car when they recover it, that could result in charges for you. Even so, that is likely better than being accused of other crimes committed with your stolen car, so talk to a lawyer quickly about reporting the vehicle stolen, even if doing so might open you to other criminal liability.
Call Our NJ Criminal Defense Lawyers Today
If you were charged with a crime, call (609) 616-4956 for a free case review with the Law Offices of John J. Zarych’s Haddonfield, NJ criminal defense lawyers.
