Why they steal license plates [The Virginia Gazette, Williamsburg]

Dec. 25--WILLIAMSBURG -- A?peculiar license plate theft reported by a visiting couple points up how a nuisance crime exploits unsuspecting drivers.

On Dec. 10 a North Carolina family visiting the Historic Area returned to their car at the Visitor Center to discover one of their plates had been replaced with a Virginia tag, which made no sense.

Police found that the Virginia plate had been stolen off a car in Norfolk. The North Carolina plate turned up five days later on a car parked at Williamsburg Outlet Mall. Sure enough, a plate on that car had been stolen too.

Local police say the crime is infrequent here, but the domino effect can be troublesome.

"We get a report about once a month," noted Maj. Greg Riley of the Williamsburg Police. His counterpart in James City, Maj. Stephen Rubino, said it seems to have waned but there are "occasional" reports.

Myriad reasons explain the thefts.

n To make an unregistered car appear street legal.

n For use by drivers who can't get insurance. Some 230 tags were stolen in Spartanburg, S.C., last year, according to WYFF News4.

n To commit a crime. In at least one recent local bank heist the robbers drove off in a car with stolen plates.

n Gas drive-offs.?Snopes.com notes that when gas prices skyrocket, people fill up their gas tank without paying. Video surveillance identifies the owner instead of the thief.

Riley said thieves typically steal just one plate. It's quicker, and in most states only one tag is required. Front and back plates are required in Virginia, so police take notice when a car has only one.

Thieves also will put one tag on top of another. Rubino noted that several years ago a James City police officer stopped a car on a traffic violation. Both the layered plates and the car were stolen.

The FBI has a tool called a License Plate Reader deployed in 46 states. It captures license plate images using cameras mounted on patrol cars or in fixed sites, such as stoplights. The data help track down stolen vehicles.

While annoying to the victims, stealing plates is less traumatic than a practice Rubino saw here years ago.

"Kids from Norfolk and Virginia Beach would steal a car there, then drive up here to spend the day at Busch Gardens. At the end of the day they'd steal one from the parking lot and drive home."

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