A homeowner in Mantua watched a stranger break into their house through a home security camera on Tuesday morning, and within hours, Fairfax County detectives had the suspect in custody thanks to automated license plate reader technology. Officers responded at 9:40 a.m. to the 8900 block of Karen Drive for the burglary, and the resident’s footage gave police a description of both the suspect and his vehicle that would prove crucial to the fast turnaround.
According to the Fairfax County Police Department, detectives from the Real Time Crime Center and the Auto Crimes Enforcement unit coordinated their efforts and used ALPR technology to track down the vehicle. The system located the car on Richmond Highway in Fair Haven, and ACE detectives moved in and arrested the driver, identified as 73-year-old Michael Spillino of Alexandria.
Spillino was charged with burglary and grand larceny and was later released on a $2,000 bond, per the department. Investigators also said they recovered evidence from inside his vehicle that linked him to additional burglaries outside Fairfax County, though the department has not said whether those cases have resulted in charges elsewhere. Police credited the combination of ALPR technology and coordinated detective work as instrumental in quickly locating the suspect and making the arrest.
How License Plate Cameras Are Changing Fairfax Casework
Automated license plate reader systems capture plate numbers along with the precise time, date and location of passing vehicles, giving detectives a digital trail to follow in cases where a suspect description alone might not be enough. Fairfax County currently operates 84 Flock cameras, according to WTOP, and the county’s program has reportedly helped solve more than 1,600 cases since it began in November 2022. A separate 2024 Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting summary put the number of LPR-assisted cases in 2023 alone at 384, a figure that is not directly reconciled with the larger multiyear total in the WTOP report…