ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – New technology is helping deputies nab suspects more quickly, the most recent being two people accused of an armed robbery that started with a Tinder date, according to the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office.
The Sheriff's Office started using the license plate reader as a pilot program in January. It has been so successful, the law enforcement agency is keeping the program and expanding it.
On Friday night, investigators said the new license plate reader technology led them to a football and soccer park by Fruit Cove Middle School on Race Track Road where they found Michael Wheeler and Lexis Triplett, along with an illegal gun.
"If it's used properly, it's very good," said Leo Coelho, who lives nearby. "I am glad that they can use that technology to our advantage."
Deputies said Wheeler, 26, and Tripplett, 20, both of Jacksonville, are charged with kidnapping and armed home invasion. Wheeler is also charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Sheriff's Office spokesman Chuck Mulligan said Triplett met a Ponte Vedra resident on the Tinder dating app last week and she went to his house with Wheeler.
According to Mulligan, Triplett and Wheeler bound the victim at gunpoint, using a sheet, and gagged him with a shirt. He said the pair then stole the victim's bank account information, computers and cellphone.
Investigators said they used forensic technology to match Triplett's cellphone to her license plate and Friday, the next time the two entered St. Johns County, deputies found them using the license plate reader.
While the Sheriff’s Office won’t share exact numbers, it did tell News4Jax that the license plate reader is a success, saying the number of crooks arrested and the number of recovered stolen vehicles keep growing.
According to the Sheriff's Office, the technology has been used to arrest homicide suspects from other states, arrest serial rapists from other states and locate missing people in Florida and beyond.
"We saw very quickly how much information came to us on criminal actions," Mulligan told News4Jax on Tuesday. "We don’t use the system for traffic. We don’t use the system to determine if you have a drivers license that suspended."
Investigators said they strategically locate the license plate readers across the county -- some move, some are permanent and some are attached to patrol vehicles.
According to Florida Department of Corrections records, Wheeler was released from prison in June 2017 after serving six years for a home invasion convicted out of Duval County.
Mulligan told News4Jax that law enforcement in another county linked the couple to a much more serious case, all thanks to the technology of the license plate reader. The details surrounding that case have not yet been released.