Fairfield police credited a Tesla’s built-in camera system with helping them to quickly identify one of two people seen casing the car before smashing a window and stealing a laptop.The smash-and-grab happened Tuesday night around 6:30 in a parking lot near Interstate 80 and Travis Boulevard.”I was on my way home from work and stopped to pick up some dinner for my wife and I. So, I parked it in the parking lot over near the mall, turned on the Sentry Mode and went into the store,” said Steve Widick, the car’s owner.Sentry Mode, Widick explained, enables the Tesla to start recording video when something or someone approaches it.As Widick stood in line for take-out, he got a notification on his phone. “I was standing in line, and I got the notification on my phone that Sentry Mode had been activated, and then right after that, I got that the alarm had been activated,” he recalled. “So, I left the line, came out and looked, and the window was smashed and my laptop was gone.”Widick called police, who responded to the scene. He later supplied them with this video, which not only shows the license plate of the vehicle used by the thieves — it clearly shows the thieves’ faces. “Apparently, they did not know that they would be recorded if they broke into this car,” Widick said.In less than 24 hours, Fairfield police said they were able to identify one of the men as 24-year-old Alvin Lovett, who’s from the Bay Area. “(Lovett) is the one that we have probable cause to arrest at this time,” said Lt. Jausiah Jacobsen. “He also has warrants for his arrest out of other jurisdictions in the area, and one of those has been mentioned to be a weapons charge. So, we ask the public not to contact him if they do see him. Just call your local authorities and report that so they can deal with it.”The other man, seen breaking the window, has yet to be identified, but Jacobsen said the public may be able to help there, too. “Unfortunately, from time to time, we do have individuals that will go up and down the (Interstate) 80 corridor. They’ll get off on the off-ramps, they’ll look for vehicles of opportunity that have items in plain view. They’ll break the window, they’ll grab it and they’re gone,” Jacobsen said. He reminds people not leave their items in plain sight.Cameras have been an asset in police work, he said, even referring to his body-worn camera. “The first time I saw the video … I was blown away at how clear it was,” Jacobsen said. “So, it does help us greatly because we can send it out to our partners in law enforcement. If they can help identify somebody, great. And then, ultimately, what we will do a lot of times is we will put it out on our social media platforms to the public and help us find out who this person is.”
Fairfield police credited a Tesla’s built-in camera system with helping them to quickly identify one of two people seen casing the car before smashing a window and stealing a laptop.
The smash-and-grab happened Tuesday night around 6:30 in a parking lot near Interstate 80 and Travis Boulevard.
“I was on my way home from work and stopped to pick up some dinner for my wife and I. So, I parked it in the parking lot over near the mall, turned on the Sentry Mode and went into the store,” said Steve Widick, the car’s owner.
Sentry Mode, Widick explained, enables the Tesla to start recording video when something or someone approaches it.
As Widick stood in line for take-out, he got a notification on his phone.
“I was standing in line, and I got the notification on my phone that Sentry Mode had been activated, and then right after that, I got that the alarm had been activated,” he recalled. “So, I left the line, came out and looked, and the window was smashed and my laptop was gone.”
Widick called police, who responded to the scene. He later supplied them with this video, which not only shows the license plate of the vehicle used by the thieves — it clearly shows the thieves’ faces.
“Apparently, they did not know that they would be recorded if they broke into this car,” Widick said.
In less than 24 hours, Fairfield police said they were able to identify one of the men as 24-year-old Alvin Lovett, who’s from the Bay Area.
“(Lovett) is the one that we have probable cause to arrest at this time,” said Lt. Jausiah Jacobsen. “He also has warrants for his arrest out of other jurisdictions in the area, and one of those has been mentioned to be a weapons charge. So, we ask the public not to contact him if they do see him. Just call your local authorities and report that so they can deal with it.”
The other man, seen breaking the window, has yet to be identified, but Jacobsen said the public may be able to help there, too.
“Unfortunately, from time to time, we do have individuals that will go up and down the (Interstate) 80 corridor. They’ll get off on the off-ramps, they’ll look for vehicles of opportunity that have items in plain view. They’ll break the window, they’ll grab it and they’re gone,” Jacobsen said.
He reminds people not leave their items in plain sight.
Cameras have been an asset in police work, he said, even referring to his body-worn camera.
“The first time I saw the video … I was blown away at how clear it was,” Jacobsen said. “So, it does help us greatly because we can send it out to our partners in law enforcement. If they can help identify somebody, great. And then, ultimately, what we will do a lot of times is we will put it out on our social media platforms to the public and help us find out who this person is.”
