How Three Tesla Vandals Were Caught By Law Enforcement And License Plate Readers

While the Tesla Takedown movement and the resulting protests have remained peaceful, we’ve also seen several separate instances of anti-Tesla vandalism lately. Despite attempts to disguise their appearances, several of the alleged vandals have already been arrested. Authorities tracked them down pretty quickly, too. Based on recently unsealed court records, it sounds like a big reason they were able to do that was because automatic license plate readers are so ubiquitous these days, 404 Media reports. 

Regardless of where you’re driving and what you’re doing, at this point, you have to assume your every public movement is being tracked. But the alleged vandals also reportedly gave away a lot more information on social media than they may have intended. Oh, and one person allegedly left fingerprints behind at the scene, which in this day and age, is just asking to be caught. Still, without the license plate readers and other security cameras, it’s unlikely that law enforcement would have been able to piece together enough information to make arrests as quickly as they did.

Take the incident in South Carolina, where someone spray-painted “Fu*k Trump” and “Long Live Ukraine” on several chargers before throwing Molotov cocktails made out of beer bottles at them, setting a few on fire. While authorities were initially unable to identify the suspect, they did find what appeared to be a white male wearing a grey sweater, a black mask, black shorts, and black shoes on footage captured by a camera at a nearby restaurant. That person was also carrying something green. 

Additional footage showed the suspect in the same area without the green object. Eventually, they figured out what it was — a cardboard carrier for Holland 1839 beer. They also found footage of someone wearing the same outfit getting into a white van in the parking lot of an outlet mall. They then used the mall’s license plate reader to identify the van and searched the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles database for the license plate. That gave them a last name, while mall security was also able to provide an image of the suspect without a mask on.

Using an open source search that included social media, authorities were able to obtain a phone number that, in turn, matched with a man they were able to track further by searching for his name on another “mobile payment app,” presumably Venmo or something similar. Transactions listed as rent then gave authorities an address, allowing them to apply for a warrant to search his apartment and vehicle. There, they found what appeared to be the same sweatshirt worn by the Tesla vandal, as well as a receipt for Holland Lager 1839. 

Another high-profile instance of anti-Tesla vandalism took place in Colorado, where, over several days, someone spray painted “NAZI” and “FU*K MUSK” on a Tesla showroom sign, vandalized multiple vehicles and threw a Molotov cocktail at a Cybertruck. The vandal walked to the Tesla lot and was dressed in all black with a hood up and mask on, which should have made them incredibly difficult to find. However, security footage found a car leaving a nearby parking lot around the time the vandal would have left the dealership. A license plate reader identified both the car and its owner.

Later, a second license plate reader alerted authorities that the same car was on the move again. Authorities followed the car to another Tesla showroom where the driver was seen wearing the same outfit seen in previous surveillance footage, along with carrying a similar bag. The driver didn’t commit any crimes that time, but authorities arrested her anyway, believing they had enough evidence to tie her to previous instances of vandalism. 

Meanwhile, the most egregious case took place in Oregon, where, in addition to throwing Molotov cocktails, the vandal later returned and reportedly fired “an AR-15 style rifle with a suppressor” at the same Tesla showroom. He allegedly made the mistake of leaving fingerprints on the wine bottles used to make the Molotov cocktails, but authorities also claimed to have tracked him down with the help of license plate readers.

License plate readers aren’t exactly new, nor are security cameras, although high-definition cameras that actually capture a usable image are a lot more recent. Still, even generally well-informed people may not realize just how much of their movement can actually be tracked, even without law enforcement having access to their phone’s location data. Nor do they necessarily realize how much their social media presence reveals about where they live or where they go. Even a relatively small amount of information can give away far more than you ever intended. 

If you aren’t out there committing any crimes, at least theoretically, license plate readers shouldn’t be a major concern, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be abused. Cops don’t always follow the rules, and all it would take is a willing accomplice with the right access for an abuser to track a victim to their new address. Really, though, the more immediate concern is just how much information is available for free on the internet. A first name and a job can be all someone needs from a dating app to find your last name, and once someone has your name, they can find your social media accounts and possibly even where you live. Due to open property tax records, renting is typically safer than owning, but even a selfie by the pool can be enough for someone to find your apartment without much effort. 

Odds are, anyone staying on the right side of the law — something Jalopnik strongly encourages — doesn’t have anything to worry about. Still, by the time you realize that’s not actually the case, it may be too late. At the very least, be sure to lock down your social media accounts and stop posting publicly on Venmo. Even then, you still need to be incredibly careful about posting anything that might even possibly include identifying details. For anyone looking to learn more about keeping themselves safe out there, whether you use dating apps or not, I’ve been a fan of Natalia Antonova‘s work for years and can’t recommend her highly enough. At the very least, it’s worth it to read up on online security a little more, even if you never need to use what you learn.