A 21-year-old Ukiah man was arrested on March 26 after officers spotted him driving a stolen vehicle, according to the Ukiah Police Department.
Alexander Timothy Barger was taken into custody without incident after officers stopped him in a parking lot near T-Up on East Perkins Street, police said.
The department’s automated license plate recognition system alerted officers around 8:20 p.m. that a stolen Nissan Versa was traveling through Ukiah. Dispatchers confirmed the vehicle had been reported stolen from Auto Distributor of Santa Rosa and was still outstanding.
Officers located the Nissan a short time later and attempted to stop it. Barger, the driver, turned into a parking lot and began exiting the vehicle when officers arrested him, police said.
Barger was booked into the Mendocino County Jail on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle, committing a felony while out on bail, and driving on a suspended license due to a prior DUI conviction. He has yet to be tried for the charges and is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Will Ukiah cooperate when Trump demands they use license plate readers to identify persons protesting his unconstitutional actions? Or to arrest and jail people without due process, as Congressional Republicans said last week he is empowered to do? Before they were installed the public was assured they wouldn’t be used that way. Now it is a real possibility.